Yugioh Visions
by SuperNova23
Summary: A series of coincidences leads to main girl Yuko being dragged into the world of dueling. As she makes friends and rivals, more and more oddities involving the ancient game crop up in the city of Moonvale, and only few seem to take notice.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I've finally got a new story! And this one is also being turned into a webcomic! In fact, I'm writing in tandem with my artist! If only Fanfiction accepted links, but alas! If any of you know how to link a DeviantArt account or Tumblr on my profile, please help me. Until then, I can only credit my artist and editor by name: Felix Brunschede and Matthew Rhodes! Thank you both so much for help working through this!**

 **Also, this is a monthly series, so don't expect me to go dark! Even if it's only once a month, I will give you one chapter. Maybe two, but don't count on it. Made-up cards will be listed in the end-note.**

* * *

The town of Moonvale. Named such because of the clear view of the moon and stars, and that was also its main drawing point. It's not the busiest town with the main business being tourism, but it was by no means small. It had enough of a night life to draw out the locals, and in particular, one new arrival to the town. This newcomer had long blonde hair held in a ponytail with a cobalt-blue streak near the end. This is Yuko, and this is where our story begins.

"Ah, that's perfect. Gimme 'nother!" She slurred out, setting her glass back down on the counter. She began to dig through her pockets for money to settle up with her tab, before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around and saw one of the club security guards. "Excuse me miss, Haven't you had enough to drink?"

Yuko giggled, "Heehee, nope. I intend to party all night!"

The guard was not amused. "Are you even old enough to be in here?"

She nodded her head, "Yup! Of course I am!" While she was only 18, she had paid the cover, and as far as she could remember she hadn't ordered any liquor. Maybe the bartender got her drink mixed with someone else's? "Now can I please drink in peace?"

The guard wouldn't leave her be. Look, kid. You're clearly drunk. I'm going to call you a cab home, alright?" With this, she showed her intoxicated state by tearing up.

"No! Mommy and Daddy don't know I'm out here! Please don't make me go home! They'll be mad and yell!"

The guard sighed. He was not paid enough to deal with this. "Fine. You can leave out through the back. Will that do? And if your parents ask, you weren't here." She looked a minor, so that was best for both of them. "Just… be careful, okay?"

Yuko smiled, leaning on him to get to the back door, which opened into a surprisingly well-lit alley. As soon as she was out the door, she heard it close behind her.

A few shaky steps later, she found herself collapsing onto the pavement. She put out her hands to absorb the impact instead of her face as she took a few seconds to re-orient herself. "Alright, I'm good now… I think…" She muttered to herself, slowly getting up and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Eh?" She wondered, as something in the corner of her eye caught her interest.

She slowly made her way over to the point of interest carefully, one hand on the wall of the alley to keep herself upright. She slowly bent down to pick up the small object, finding it to be a bundle of cards. "Not just cards… Duel Monsters cards." She muttered in surprise as she looked at them. "Hyozanryu…" She said, looking at the first one. "Doesn't look all that special."

The monster was a Level seven normal Dragon, with 2100 attack points and 2800 defense points. It wasn't all that powerful, but it wasn't weak by any means either. As she looked through the other cards, she found they were all related in some way to Hyozanryu, or were other dragon-related cards. Yuko looked at the cards again, shrugged, and put them in her pocket. Someone had dumped them in a dirty alleyway, so they must not have wanted them. Finders keepers, right?

As Yuko wandered around the empty streets, the cool air helped her sober up for the most part. As she became more aware, she realized that she needed a place to sleep. She couldn't go home since she was supposed to be asleep at home, and she didn't know the town well-enough to find anywhere nice on her own. Her only option was to find somewhere to spend the night. She began to lose hope until she saw a notice taped to a telephone pole.

It wasn't very detailed, it just had a nearby address that said there was a room for rent. It didn't have a listed price, but Yuko decided to check it out anyway. It was better than sleeping in the dirty alley. She took the notice and double-checked the address. She knew where it was, since she had passed the street earlier and she was confident she could find her way back.

After a bit of stumbling, she regained her footing and began to walk off toward the address with the room she so desperately needed. As she got close, she saw it wasn't a house like she expected, but a shop. She saw someone sitting outside with black hair and wearing a green jacket. He was using the light from one of the streetlights while working on what looked like a metal box.

Yuko slowly approached him. "Um, excuse me." She began, causing him to look up at her. "But I was wondering if this was the right place? I was interested in renting the spare room, if it's still available. Or at least stay for just tonight."

The boy set aside what he was working on and stood up. "This is the right place. What're you willing to pay for it?"

Yuko shrugged, wracking her brain for what would be a fair price. "Um, how about a hundred dollars for every two weeks?"

The boy grinned. "Well, that's way better than I was hoping. The room's yours…"

"Yuko." She helpfully supplied.

"Yuko." He repeated, finishing his sentence from earlier. "But the thing is, I will need a deposit before I can give it to you."

Yuko took a step back in surprise. "Eh? Why?"

"To make sure you don't crash here and then run off tomorrow, of course." He replied, matter-of-factly. "So, can you pay?"

Yuko frantically searched, but she only had her bank card; all her cash was gone. So she was stuck until the banks opened the next day. "Please! I really need a place to stay!"

The boy looked over her. "Well, I guess I can accept some form of collateral as payment. How about those hair decorations? They look like they're worth a pretty penny."

Yuko grabbed her ponytail and held it close to her protectively. "My beads? No way! No! Not in a million years!" She shouted.

The boy shrugged. "Well, you're loss I guess." As he opened the door, Yuko ran up and stopped him. He looked back, giving her an annoyed look."

"What about these cards? I'll give you these in exchange!" She pleaded. He brushed her aside and headed inside, before coming out a second later with a duel disk attached to his wrist. He picked up the thing he was working on and tossed it to Yuko, who clumsily caught it.

"Put it on. I just finished fixing it." He said. "Since you have cards, we can make this interesting." Her eyebrow raised and gave him a questioning glance. "We duel. If I win, I get your beds and your cards. If you win, you can have the room and I'll even give you that duel disk to make it a fair trade." He smirked, "Well?"

Yuko thought it over and decided it was worth it. She was never a competitive player, but how good could he really be? "You're on…"

"Yamato." He supplied for her.

* * *

The two stood cross from each other, as they activated their Duel Disks. Yuko watched in surprise as a hard light construct came out of her Duel Disk. It looked like a slightly curved play mat with the deck, graveyard, and Extra Deck spots removed. The counter for both of hem displayed 400 Life points.

Yamato gave her a look. "Are you seriously surprised? Have you even used a Duel Disk in the last five years?"

Yuko shot him a nasty look. "O-of course I have! Let's just get started!"

"Duel!" They both shouted.

(Yuko: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand)  
(Yamato: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand)

"I'll go first," Yamato said, "So I don't get to draw a card. Though I don't need it. I'll start by summoning **BB King Pen Shopkeep**!" (0 ATK) An old humanoid penguin puffing on a cigar appeared and stood in front of Yamato.

"A monster with no attack? It must have a special ability, doesn't it?" Yuko asked.

"Of course. When King Pen is summoned, I'm allowed to search my deck for a Blackwing card, and add it to my hand." Yamato took his deck out of his duel disk before selecting one card, "And since BB is shorthand for Blackwing Brawler, I can add **BB Ostrich Catherine** to my hand. And with her effect, if the only monsters on m field are BB monsters, I can special summon her to the field."

As he played the card, a humanoid ostrich wearing a black dress and holding a fan appeared on his side of the field. (1300 ATK).

Yamato wasn't finished though. "Since another BB Monster is on the field, King Pen can't be targeted by attacks, effects, spells, or traps. I'll set one card face-down and that will end my turn.

Yuko drew her card to start her turn. "Alright, my move!" She quickly glanced at her hand. She didn't have any spells that could deal with the face-down card, but maybe the deck she found wasn't all that bad. "I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode!" (1400 ATK)

A dragon with a red underbelly and white scales appeared on her field. It let loose a roar, though neither of Yamato's monsters appeared to be phased. Yuko was more than ready to echo her monster's enthusiasm. "Masked Dragon, attack Ostrich Catherine!"

Yamato smirked. "I was hoping for that. I reveal the quick-play spell, Forbidden Chalice! This card lets me give a monster 400 attack points for one turn, at the cost of negating its effect. And I'm giving it to Catherine!"

The bird took the cup in her hands and took a drink from it, before being surrounded by a faint blue light. (1300 - 1700 ATK)

Yuko's monster breathed out a jet of flame which Catherine ran right through, before giving Masked Dragon a powerful kick, causing the scales covering its face to crack, before it exploded into billowing smoke.

Yuko took the card and slotted it into her graveyard. "Whenever Masked Dragon is destroyed, I can summon a Dragon with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck!" Yamato was intrigued by this. Was she going to try and prepare a tuner? Or was she setting up for a Cyberdark deck?

"I choose Element Dragon!" Yamato nearly facefaulted. Unless she was setting up for something elaborate, it seemed she had just grabbed the strongest monster she had. A pale pink dragon with green wing membranes and orange plumage on its neck appeared to stand before Yuko. (1500 ATK)

"I'll place two cards face-down, and that's all from me." Yuko said, as two hidden cards appeared in front of her. "So, does this mean your Chalice wears off?"

Yamato nodded, as the glow around Catherine disappeared. He had been expecting a real duel, but here was a complete rookie in front of him. Well, he said he wasn't going to be easy on her, and he meant it (1700 - 1300).

(Yuko: 3700 LP, 3 cards in hand)

(Yamato: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand)

Yamato drew a card. "My turn!" He added his new card to his hand, before smiling. "Your Element Dragon may have more attack points than my monsters right now, but that'll change soon enough. I summon **BB Tommygun Emu** in attack mode!"

This one was again a humanoid bird, but it had a gun in its hands and a fedora, making it look like a 1920s gangster (1800 ATK).

Yuko looked down at her cards nervously, and Yamato took that chance to launch his attack. "Alright, Tommygun, attack her dragon!" What he didn't expect was to see Yuko smirk as he did.

"I activate my face-down card!" She flipped it face up on her field, revealing it to Yamato. "Zero Gravity! This forces all monsters to change battle position!" Tommygun Emu dropped to one knee and lowered his hat over his eyes (200 DEF). Catherine raised one leg to stand in a guarding stance (500 DEF) and King Pen just sat down cross-legged (1800 DEF).

Yuko's Element Dragon was also switched, covering its body with its wings.

"I end my turn." Yamato snarled, as Yuko drew her next card.

"Alright! I start by switching Element Dragon to attack mode, and next I'll summon Spear Dragon, also in attack mode (1900 ATK)! Also, since Spear Dragon is a Wind Attribute monster, Element Dragon can attack twice!" A green aura surrounded her dragon, "Now go! Destroy his Emu and Ostrich!"

Yamato looked unimpressed as he played a trap from his hand. "Since I have three Blackwing cards on the field, I can activate the trap Black Sonic from my hand. And you're going to love what it does!"

Yuko sighed. "Something tells me I really won't, but what does it do?"

"It banishes all your attacking monsters from the game."

"Oh, okay, well I can- wait WHAT!?"

A portal of energy opened up, drawing the two dragons into it, and Yuko reluctantly took the two dragons and sent them to the banishment slot on her Duel Disk. Looking at her hand, she realised nothing she had could help her. "I end my turn."

(Yuko: 3700 LP, 3 cards in hand)  
(Yamato: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand)

Yamato drew and added his new card to his hand. "Well, Looks like you're wide open. Catherine, attack directly!"

The bird ran forward and used her momentum to slam her foot into Yuko's stomach, making her reel from the kick as her life points went down. "

You can take more than that, I hope." He said with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Because regardless, Tommygun Emu still hasn't attacked!"

The hail of holographic bullets did hurt and as Yuko crossed her arms in front of her to block them, it still felt like she was getting shot by rubber bullets. "I'll end my turn there."

Yuko grit her teeth as she drew. She knew that her situation was dire, since she only had 600 Life points left. She looked at her hand, and remembering what her face-down was, saw the opening she needed. "I summon Hunter Dragon in attack mode (1700 ATK)!"

Yuko thrust her hand forward. "Now go! Attack the Emu!" She ordered. The dragon launched itself forward, but before it could reach its target, it was riddled with bullets. Yuko saw her life points drop again as she revealed her face-down card. "I activate the trap card: Rope of Life!"

She went on to explain, "By discarding my entire hand, I can revive the monster destroyed by battle and give him an extra 800 Attack points. So come back Hunter Dragon!" Yuko called, as a holographic rope pulled her dragon back to the field (1700 - 2500).

"Now change your attack target to Ostrich Catherine!" This time, nothing stopped Hunter Dragon from ripping the bird apart, causing smoke to billow out from either side before it disappeared, with Yamato's life points dropping significantly. Yuko smiled, feeling this was her game. "I'll end it here."

(Yuko: 500 LP, 0 Cards in hand)  
(Yamato: 2800 LP, 4 Cards in hand)

Yamato drew another card. "Well, this is the end for you. I release Tommygun Emu and King Pen to tribute summon **Blackwing Brawler Chief**!" A large humanoid penguin with muscles that stood a head taller than Yuko. "And since he was tribute summoned, all BB monsters gain 300 attack, including him (2300 ATK - 2600 ATK)."

"Now go! Crush her dragon!" Yamato ordered, which the chief was more than happy to oblige, just grabbing Hunter Dragon and delivering a powerful punch to it's stomach, instantly causing it to explode into a smoke cloud. Yuko felt the colour drain from her face as the bird kept walking toward her, and punched her. "Oh, I forgot to mention," Yamato said to the winded Yuko, "If my Chief destroys a monster, you take damage equal to that monster's level multiplied by 100. Lucky for you, Hunter Dragon is only a level 3 monster."

Yuko was sweating bullets. No cards in her hand, only 100 life points left, and even if she was able to defend, she'd still lose because of the Chief's effect. She looked at her deck. She had to have a game changer in her deck. She closed her eyes, and drew the card, needing a miracle. She drew, her arm out wide, and she looked at the card out of the corner of her eye.

"I activate Silver's Cry!" She said, placing down the spell card. This spell lets me revive one Normal Dragon monster from my graveyard!"

Yamato gave her a bored look. "So what? You're going to revive Hunter Dragon?"

Yuko shook her head. "Not exactly. I have another. Remember those two cards I discarded for Rope of Life? Both of those were monsters, but only one was normal. Come forth, Hyozanryu!"

A dragon, covered from head to toe in glittering diamond scales appeared and roared as it appeared on Yuko's field (2100 ATK).

Yamato rolled his eyes. "So what? It's still too weak to win you the duel."

Yuko simply opened the slot where her Extra Deck was stored. "Normally, I need two Light Dragon monsters, but I can also use a Level 7 "Hyozan" monster to construct the Overlay Network!"

 _Heart encased in brilliant crystal_

 _Break free of your gilded cage_

 _Open the gates and let your rage break free-_

"What are you doing?" Yamato asked her in a deadpan.

Yuko blushed, embarrassed. "Making it all dramatic. You know, like the pros do on TV."

Yamato sighed. "First off, you're a beginner. Stop that. Second off, it sounds stupid."

"It does not!"

Yamato began to talk in a mocking impression of Yuko's voice. "I call to you in prose of purple. As purple as a fresh-blooming violet-"

"Shut up! XYZ Summon! **Fiery Hyozanryu**!"

Hyozanryu went into a swirling purple and golden portal and out came a similar monster. Its diamond scales, instead of being smooth was jagged and sharp. The wings were gone and on its feet were wicked-looking talons. Its underbelly was also a deeper orange with some red (2300 ATK).

Yuko began to explain her card. "Normally, Fiery Hyozanryu gains 200 attack and defense for each Overlay Unit, but I'm going to detach its one and only in order to destroy a monster whose attack is lower than its defense. And if I do, you take damage equal to that monster's level times 200! Not destroy the Chief!"

Fiery Hyozanryu let out a breath of blue fire that engulfed the humanoid bird and left nothing behind as Yamato's life points took a huge hit. It also left him defenseless, something Yuko was going to capitalize on. "Fiery Hyozanryu, attack for the game!"

Yamato crossed his arms in front of his head as another wave of fire came at him, dropping his life points to 0.

(Yuko: 100 LP, 0 Cards in hand)  
(Yamato: 0 LP. 4 Cards in hand)

"Yes! I win!" Yuko shouted in joy, before walking over to Yamato. "So, I get the room and the duel disk, right?"

He sighed, as he straightened. "The duel disk is yours. You get the room tonight. Tomorrow, you gotta pay."

He opened the door to the shop, dimly lit by a lamp in the corner. He led her behind the counter and up a flight of stairs to the second floor. He opened a door and flicked on a light. Inside the room was a simple bed, a bedside table with a light on it, and a dresser. Along the wall was a window with the curtains drawn, so the night sky was visible. The rest of the room was bare. "Here you go. You can decorate it later. Bathroom's at the end of your hall, on the right. Any more questions?"

Yuko shook her head, "Nope. I'm good for tonight. Thanks, and goodnight." She said with a small wave.

He gave her a nod of acknowledgement before walking out and leaving her alone. "Night."

Yuko turned off the light before flopping back onto the bed. She didn't realize how tired she actually was. She unstrapped her duel disk and placed it on the bedside table before giving one last look at the moon before falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Remember to review! Constructive critisism is always helpful!Now onto cards:**

BB Shopkeep King Pen

Level 3, Winged Beast/Effect, DARK

0 ATK/1800 DEF

When this card is Normal Summoned, choose one "Blackwing" card in your deck and add it to your hand. If there is another "Blackwing Brawler" on the field, this card cannot be targeted for attacks or by card effects.

BB Ostrich Catherine

Level 3, Winged Beast/Effect, DARK

1300 ATK/500 DEF

If there is another "Blackwing Brawler" on the field, this card can be Special Summoned from the hand to the field. Once per turn, you can target one of vour opponent's set monsers and turn it to face-up attack position (Flip Effects are not activated). On the turn this effect is used, this monster cannot attack.

BB Tommygun Emu

Level 4, Winged Beast/Effect, DARK

1800 ATK/200 DEF

This card can attack once for each monster your opponent controls. While you control this face-up card, all effect damage dealt to you is cutin half.

Blackwing Brawler Chief

Level 7, Winged Beast/Effect DARK

2300 ATK/800 DEF

When this card is Tribute Summoned, All "Blackwing Brawlers" gain 300 Attack Points. Once per turn, you can banish one "Blackwing" card in your Graveyard. If you do, this card is unaffected by Spells or Traps until your opponent's End Phase. If this card destroys another monster, the owner of that monster takes damage equal to the destroyed monster's level x100.

Fiery Hyozanryu

Rank 4, Dragon/XYZ/Effect FIRE

2300 ATK/3200 DEF

2 Level 4 LIGHT Dragon Monsters

This card can also be XYZ summoned using one Level 7 "Hyozan" Card. This card gains 200 Attack and Defense Points for each Overlay Unit attached to it. Once per turn, you can detach one Overlay Unit to destroy one monster with Attack lower than this card's Defense. The owner of the destoryed monster tkesdamage equal to the destroyed monster's Level or Rank x200

* * *

 **And here is the introduction to two of our main characters, along with two new Archtypes we're building. I'm sure there are questions, but we can't show our hand just yet. They'll all be answered in time. Remember, Favourite and follow to catch the next update, and reviews are always great!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all! Not much to say in the Author's Note this time. Nothing's really changed in my personal life as of yet. Once again, thank you very much to Matthew Rhodes and Felix Brunschede for your assistance. I promise, I'll get those links in soon, if I can.**

 **And because I keep forgetting this: Yu-Gi-Oh is property of Konami, however, all characters used in this story belong to me.**

 **Also, a new poll on my page. Please vote!**

* * *

Yuko woke up, blinking the sunlight out of her eyes from the open window. She groggily stretched, looking around the sparse room. This was not her bedroom, that much was for sure. She looked over to the bedside table where she saw a glass of water and two tablets, along with a little note. She reached for the note and quickly scanned it.

 _You seemed a bit tipsy last night, but you didn't reek of alcohol. Either way, here's something for your head when you wake up, if you need it._

Yuko set down the note, the evens of the previous night hitting her full-force. She downed the glass of water, since she felt fine. She stretched, slipped her deck into her pocket, and made her way to the bathroom. She had to look at least a little presentable. After brushing her hair and washing her face, she felt she looked good enough to head out for the day.

As she descended the stairs, she saw Yamato waiting for her, along with an old man sitting behind the counter. He seemed to resemble Yamato's King Pen, but was clearly larger, lacked all of the bird features, and had a more imposing figure. Yamato gave her a lazy wave. "Was wondering when you'd get up. Yuko, this is Shopkeep." He nodded his head at her in acknowledgment. "This is Yuko, the new girl I was telling you about."

This last bit caught Yuko off-guard. "New girl?"

Yamato nodded. "That's why I was surprised at how much rent you were offering. Part of the deal is that you work here. Did you even read the flyer?"

Yuko pulled out the crumpled-up flyer from her pocket, only now noticing it was torn. "You're kidding, right?" To her dismay, Shopkeep shook his head.

Yamato cleared his throat to keep them on track. "Also, you need to go get some money for your room. I'll have the lease ready when you get back. Also, leave your deck. We want to take a look at it, if you don't mind."

Yuko shrugged, placing her deck on the counter. She knew Yamato was better than her, and she just managed to win through a miracle. She saw no harm in him looking at her cards. She smiled as she left to go get the money she owed, as well as some extra spending money. It really couldn't hurt, and if she was staying for a while, she could use it to furnish her room a little more.

Once she was done, she headed back to the shop, the bell attached to the door jingling as the pulled it open to step inside. She quickly pulled out the money she owed Yamato and thrust it into his hand. "Here's your cash. Double-check if you want, but it's all there."

Yamato double-checked it before shrugging. "It's good. The paperwork's on the counter. I've filled it all out. You sign, and then Shopkeep here can sign as a witness."

Yuko flipped through the contract, before she reached the end where she was supposed to sign. She stared at the signature on the line.

 _Rui Haneken_

Yuko quickly looked over at Yamato. He seemed to expect this as he flippantly replied. "Rui's the name my parents gave me. Yamato's the name I gave myself."

This didn't sit right with Yuko, and she was going to press harder. "So, why take a fake name?"

He blushed and looked away. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

Yuko shook her head. "I don't frequent the inner city, and I'm still new to Moonvale. Care to explain?"

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. "It's because Rui sounds girly, and if you're going to make it out alright, it helps to have a stronger name. Of course, you have to be able to back it up, which I can easily enough."

"I think it sounds cute." Yuko's attempt to console him backfired immediately as he turned away. "Besides, Rui fits you."

"Don't call me that. Only my friends call me that."

"Aren't we friends?"

"This is purely a business relationship."

Yuko wrapped her arm around him in a side-hug. "We're totally friends, Rui."

He shoved her off of him. "Do that again and I'm breaking that arm. Also, stop calling me that!"

"I am not going to stop calling you that."

"Sign the damn paper so we can get this over with," He snapped, She quickly scribbled her name down on the contract.

 _Yuko Straits_

He looked over at her name. "Straits, huh? I think I've heard that name before, but I can't place it. Whatever." He said, before pulling out two stacks of cards. "We've gone through your deck, and we've decided what's worth keeping, and what isn't." He slid the smaller stack toward her.

Yuko picked it up and quickly skimmed through what she had left. "And the other ones?"

Shopkeep took the stack and pulled out a pair of scissors. As Yuko's eyes widened in shock, he casually cut the cards into small pieces.

"No! How could you!?" She cried, feeling crushed.

Rui put his hand on her shoulder. "Relax. If it makes you feel any better, your deck was total trash. It looked like you had pulled a bunch of junk cards out of the garbage. I mean, who actually runs Trap Hole in this day and age?"

Yuko huffed. "Hey, that deck wasn't from the trash!"

"Where'd you find it then?"

"In a dirty alley, next to a dumpster…" She sighed and looked down. Odds are, her deck was just thrown away like garbage.

As she visibly slumped, Rui smiled. "But, in exchange, we'll help you rebuild your deck. We'll be expecting you to buy your cards, but I'll give you these two as freebies." She looked up to see two cards on the counter.

"Honest?"

He nodded as she added the cards to her small pile. "It's a pretty potent hand-trap that works with Light attribute monsters. Not all of yours are Light, but your best ones are. I feel you can put it to pretty decent use."

Yuko skimmed the card effect, and looked at it closer. "1900 defense points is also solid-"

"No." Rui cut her off. "The first rule of Honest is never play it on the field. Only if it's your last resort. Never play it otherwise."

Yuko shrugged. "Duly noted. So, shall we get to the deck building?"

Shopkeep began to pull cards out from behind the counter while listening to Rui talk to Yuko. "So, I think that you should have about half your deck made out of monsters. Once you get better, you can afford to alter it, but for now, you need to start pretty simple. At the same time, we can't build your deck. We can just steer you in the right directions."

As Shopkeep laid out a handful of monster cards, Yuko looked them over and added them to her deck before stopping at one. "Spirit Ryu?"

Shopkeep nodded while Rui explained, "You see, it can really help you out in a pinch with the effect. It gains 1000 attack for every Dragon you discard that turn." Yuko snatched it up and added it to her growing deck.

Once she left she had enough, she stopped them. "So, now I need spells and traps, right?"

Shopkeep began looking for more cards as Rui talked once again. "Yeah. And Dragons have a lot of support. Both in terms of spells and offensive traps. Of course, you'll need some staples for defensive purposes."

Yuko looked through the cards, picking what she wanted, and at the end, Shopkeep rung up her total. She pulled out the money and passed it over the counter. "And that was most of the spending money I got…"

"…"

"Nothing to say?"

"…"

Yuko turned back to Rui. "Is he okay?"

"Oh Shopkeep? He just doesn't say much. Or anything. I've been around here since I was a kid. He and my old man were close. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything." He said, before finding what he was looking for.

He threw it at Yuko, who clumsily caught the broom he tossed to her. "What's this for?"

He smirked. "You're working, remember? You can start by sweeping up the shop. I've been meaning to for a while, but I'm already behind on some repairs."

Yuko's face settled into a pout. "Seriously? Just sweeping?"

Rui was already opening up a duel disk. "Do you have experience fixing machines?"

"No."

"Do you want to go outside and clean the gutters?"

"No!"

"Then shut up and sweep."

Yuko sighed as she began her first day of real work.

* * *

That night, Yuko quietly tiptoed down the hall to Rui's room. She squinted in the darkness, looking for what she needed. She saw it on his bedside table, but on her way over, tripped and fell to the floor with a clatter.

Rui woke with a start, turning on the lamp on the bedside table. "Yuko!? What the hell is going on? Why are you in my room?"

She gave a false smile and replied in an overly sweet tone. "Well, you're just so beautiful I had to see your sleeping face~"

He was clearly unamused. "Try again."

She sighed in defeat. "Alright, I wanted to borrow your deck so I could practice. I know we talked theory, but I need to actually duel!"

Rui groaned as he flicked the light off. "Go back to bed. We'll take tomorrow afternoon off to find you someone to duel against. How's that sound?"

She beamed, "You're the best! G'night!" She said, brushing herself off and heading back to her room.

Rui settled back into his bed, While a part of him was glad to see her so eager to improve, the part of him that should not be awake at 2 in the morning made him wonder in taking her in was a good idea or not.

* * *

Yuko followed Rui through the maze of streets. "So, where are we going?"

He didn't look back as he kept making his way around. "I called in a favour. We needed to find a duelist who isn't too skilled so you can keep up. No offense, of course."

"…None taken," Yuko replied, in a hurt tone. "Besides, you should be nicer! I did beat you!"

Rui growled, hiding his frustration at that. "That was a one-in-a-million chance. Don't expect to win on luck in the future. If you do, you'll be disappointed." He said, stopping at what appeared to be a random street corner. "She'll be here soon."

Yuko was going to ask who "she" was, but was answered as a girl started running toward them. "Hey Yamato!" She called. She was a few inches shorter than Yuko and had brown hair to her shoulders. She wore a denim jacket over a t-shirt with a pair of jeans. She seemed quite familiar with Rui as well. "So, you needed me to set up another duel?"

He smiled, "It's good to see you too. And it's not for me, it's for her." He motioned to Yuko. "Oh, I also need to introduce you. Yuko, this is Samantha. She used to set up duels for me back in the day. Sammy, this is Yuko. She's the rookie I told you about."

She extended her hand and shook Yuko's. "So you're Yuko. Nice to meetcha!" She said. "I'm Sammy. Back in the day, Yamato and I-"

He cut her off. "She knows my name."

Sammy blinked a few times, but shrugged it off. "Whatever. Rui and I used to work together. We needed extra cash, so I would set up duels for money. He'd win, and I'd get a cut." She turned back to him. "But you haven't called in a few months! What gives?"

Rui just shrugged. "Business at the shop's been good. Haven't had time for money duels."

"Also no time for hanging out with friends!?" She pouted at him.

Yuko decided to interrupt them. "So, you set up a duel for me?"

Her voice snapped the two of them back to the situation at hand. "That's right! I found someone at about your skill level. He's got a lot of promise though. Come on, he's not far from here."

As they followed her, Yuko glanced at Rui. "She seems nice."

He nodded. "She's a huge help. She has her finger on the pulse of the city for the most part. If you need to find someone, there's no one more reliable. We've worked together for years. She even helped out at the shop from time to time."

Yuko nodded, "I see. You're lucky to have a friend like her."

"Yeah." He paused, "I also told her you were my student, so don't screw up and embarrass me."

Yuko's face flushed with anger. She can't believe he just said that to her! She was still, new, but she had beaten him! "If I'm supposed to be your student, it wouldn't kill you to have at least a little faith, would it?"

Rui's retort was cut off by Sammy's call of, "We're here. Just give me one minute to get him." She headed up to one of the houses and knocked on the door. It opened and she stepped inside.

While she was gone, Yuko looked around at the street they were on. Both sides were one or two-storey homes which looked nice and well-kept "Isn't it a bad idea to duel in such a residential area."

Rui looked where she was. "There isn't a problem. Most of the people here work day jobs, and for anyone at home, it's a free show. As long as it's not in the evening or night, it's not an issue."

Yuko raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"Both Sammy and I have had run-ins with the Moonvale PD over noise complaints. We figured out that people don't care if they're out of the house."

When he finished, Sammy came back out with a boy who looked a year or two younger than Yuko. He had short brown hair and was dressed in casual wear. Sammy smiled as she introduced him, "I know he's nothing special to look at, but Lance here is pretty good for an amateur."

"Be careful. He may be at your experience level, but if Sammy took him as a client, he's gotta have some potential. Don't get cocky, stay on your toes, and never think you've won until his life points actually hit zero." And with that, Rui left Yuko's side and joined Sammy on the sidelines.

Lance activated his duel disk. "I'm not going to go easy just because you're a girl."

Yuko shot back, "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Duel!"

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]  
[Lance: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll go first!" Yuko said, "So I forfeit my draw on the first turn." She scanned her cards, and she had a pretty good idea of what to do. "I'll set a monster, and one card face-down." The two face-down cards appeared in front of her. "I end my turn."

Lance drew his card to start his turn. "I'll start by summoning Blade Knight in attack mode (1600 ATK)! When he's my only monster, flip effects won't activate when he attacks a face-down monster! Now attack!"

The knight clad in blue swung his blade at Yuko's monster, as it was revealed, it blocked the blade with glittering sapphire wings. "Sorry, but your monster doesn't have enough attack points to destroy my Luster Dragon (1600 DEF)."

As Blade Knight jumped back closer to him, Lance looked back at his hand. "I'll set three cards face-down, and I'll end my turn."

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand]  
[Lance: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand]

"My draw!" Yuko said, adding the new card to her hand. She then smirked. "I'll start by switching my Luster Dragon to Attack mode (1900 ATK) and I'll have him attack you Blade Knight!

Lance was having none of that. "I'll reveal my face-down card, Kunai with Chain! This trap acts as an equip spell, which I give to Blade Knight. It gives him an extra 500 Attack points (1600 - 2100).

Yuko faked a yawn, "Is that really all you have? I reveal my trap, Tyrant Wing! This gives one dragon 400 extra attack points and the ability to attack twice! In exchange, if the affected monster destroys another monster, then it's destroyed in the End Phase. So I'll give the power-up to the only Dragon, my Luster Dragon (1900 - 2300)! Now attack his Blade Knight!" As the card took effect, Luster Dragon's wings absorbed energy and became pure white.

The armour-clad warrior didn't last long under the flames Luster Dragon breathed on him. Yuko was ready for her second attack. "Now Luster Dragon, attack once more!"

Lance revealed his second face-down card. "I activate Draining Shield! This converts your monster's attack points into life point restoration for me!"

Yuko could only watch as his life points went back up. She set one more monster, and set one more card. "I end my turn." With these words, her Luster Dragon vanished and was sent to her Graveyard.

Lance drew to start his turn. "I'll summon my Command Knight! And when this card is on the field, all Warrior monsters gain a 400 point boost, including Command Knight (1200 1600 ATK). Now attack her monster!" The red knight that he had summoned lunged forward at Yuko, slashing at her set monster.

Yuko flipped up her face-down monster. "You attacked my Spirit Ryu, but I'm going to discard **Kuribite** from my hand to activate its ability!" The silhouette of what looked like a Kuriboh if it was made of diamond appeared over Spirit Ryu, giving it a white aura. "By discarding it from my hand, it gives my monster defense equal to your monster's attack, but the reflected damage is halved (1000 - 2600 DEF).

Command Knight's sword bounced off of Spirit Ryu's strengthened body, with the force of the blow being sent back at Lance. He braced himself against the redirected force. "I end my turn."

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 1 card in hand]  
[Lance: 5600 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko drew, smirking as she looked at what she had. "First, I'll release my Spirit Ryu in order to summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400 ATK)." A large emerald dragon appeared in front of Yuko, letting out a bestial roar. Yuko pointed at the desired target. "Now attack Command Knight!"

Her dragon belched forth a large stream of emerald flame, vapourizing Command Knight. Yuko then played the last card in her hand. "I'll play Dragon's Gunfire. And the effect I choose makes you take 800 points of direct damage!"

Lance looked at Yuko, before looking up at her dragon who spat fire down at him, taking off the extra life points. "I end my turn."

Lance drew a card. "I'm going to play the spell card Summoner's Art! This spell lets me add one Normal monster from my deck to my hand, as long as it's Level 5 or higher. And I choose Gaia the Fierce Knight!" He added the monster to his hand. "Next, I'll play Polymerization! I'll fuse the Gaia in my hand with the Curse of Dragon in my hand, in order to summon Gaia the Dragon Champion (2600 ATK)! The two cards were absorbed into the vortex made by Polymerization, and out burst Lance's powerful Fusion monster. "Now attack her dragon!" Yuko had no choice but to let the attack go through as Gaia's lance pierced her dragon, smoke billowing out of the hole before her dragon was destroyed.

Once her dragon was gone, Lance ended his turn.

[Yuko: 3800 LP, 0 cards in hand]  
[Lance: 4000 LP, 0 cards in hand]

Yuko was sweating bullets. She had no cards in hand, and while she could take one more attack, it would really shave down her life points. They both had one face-down card, and Yuko wasn't sure if hers would help her at the moment. She closed her eyes and drew. "I activate the spell card, Card of Sanctity! Now we can both draw until we have six cards!"

From the sidelines, Sammy let out a low whistle as both duelists refreshed their hands. "Been a while since I've seen that card used. Your kid must either be really gutsy or really desperate."

Rui sighed, "I'd wager it's more of the latter, but they're both doing pretty well." He said. He seriously hoped Yuko had a plan. As she looked over her cards though, she kept an uncertain expression on her face.

"I'll summon my Dwarf Star Dragon Planetar (1700 ATK)." Yuko said. As she placed the card, a dragon appeared that was half black, while the other half appeared to be comprised of fire. "I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn. Also, the turn he's normal summoned, my Dwarf Star Dragon lets me search my deck for a Level 7 Light or Dark attribute Dragon and add it to my hand." Yuko pulled out her deck, quickly found Hyozanryu, and added it to the cards in her hand.

Lance drew, adding to his hand. "You must think I'm pretty stupid. Baiting me with a weak monster while you've got three cards in your back row. So I'll reveal my face-down card, Trap Stun!" A wave of energy rippled across the field, locking the traps Yuko had set. "Next, I'll summon Little-Winguard (1400 ATK)." A small winged blue knight appeared on the field next to Gaia. "Now, my Dragon Champion, destroy her monster!"

The look of uncertainty vanished from Yuko's face as she grinned, dropping a card into her Graveyard. "I discard Honest, activating its effect! If a Light monster is attacked, I can discard Honest to add your monster's attack points to mine (1700 - 4300)!"

Yuko's dragon flew up to meet Gaia the Dragon Champion mid-charge, its entire body becoming wreathed with fire as it collided with the weaker monster, causing smoke to billow out as it was destroyed.

Lance looked rather rattled, exactly what Yuko was trying to do. "I'll set three cards face-down, and end my turn." He said, before remembering something. "And during my End Phase, I can change Little-Winguard's battle position (1800 DEF)."

[Yuko: 3800 LP, 3 cards in hand]  
[Lance: 2300 LP, 3 cards in hand]

Yuko drew for her turn, and was ready to win. "Alright, I'll summon my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500 ATK)." Mist flowed out of Yuko's Duel Disk until it solidified into an ethereal pink dragon. "Now that I have two Light Dragons who are both Level 4, I construct the Overlay Network!

The two monsters went up into the purple and gold vortex, with Fiery Hyozanryu coming out, two Overlay Units orbiting it (2300 - 2700). Before Yuko could say anything, she noticed that her dragon had a ring on its neck, with bombs attached to the ring. She looked over at Lance, who had activated a face-down card, revealing it to be a trap.

"Do you like it? I activate Ring of Destruction. I target one monster whose attack is equal to or lower than your life points, I take damage, and if I do, then you'll take the same damage!"

On the sidelines, Sammy buried her head in her hands. "What is he thinking!? That blast will wipe out all his like points! Her monster has just enough attack to drop him to nothing!"

Lance then revealed a second card. "Don't worry Sam. I'm better than that! I activate Barrel Behind the Door. Meaning that the damage I would have taken is given to you instead!"

Yuko had enough common sense to cover her head before her monster exploded, shaving off a large chunk of her Life Points, but she wasn't finished. "Since you didn't take any damage, Ring of Destruction didn't have enough power behind it to finish me off."

Yuko set another card face-down. "That's all I can do for now. Your move."

Lance drew to start his turn. "I'll switch my Winguard back into attack mode and I'll reveal Call of the Haunted to revive my Dragon Champion!" The trap activated and the fusion monster was returned to the field. "Next I'll activate my spell card, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!"

Yuko looked at him in surprise. "But you don't have any Dragon monsters! Isn't Gaia a warrior?"

He shrugged, "You'd think, but he's actually a Dragon. And since he's above level 5, he's suitable for my purposes. Instead of returning to my hand, I add him back to my Extra Deck, and then I can destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field."

All four of Yuko's set cards were blown into her Graveyard by a powerful gust of wind as Gaia was taken off the field and added back to the Extra Deck. Lance snickered. "Now that you're wide-open, I'll have Little-Winguard attack you directly!" The slash across her chest knocked her off-balance and forced Yuko to stagger back a step. "I'll set one card face-down and pass it back to you."

[Yuko: 100 LP, 1 card in hand]  
[Lance: 2300 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko took a deep breath. She needed another miracle draw. She closed her eyes, focused, and drew. She saw what it was and immediately played it. "I summon my Masked Dragon in attack mode (1400 ATK)! Now attack Little-Winguard and crash!"

Rui smirked. "Perfect. This means that while they'll both lose their monsters, Yuko will be able to search out a new one to attack directly."

As the two monsters destroyed each other, Yuko pulled out her deck. "I'll summon a second Divine Dragon Ragnarok from my deck to the field!"

Lance took this moment to reveal his face-down card. "I activate Solemn Warning! It costs me 2000 Life Points, but it negates a special summon, and destroys the monster." Yuko's heart sank as her monster was destroyed. The last card in her hand was Hyozanryu, and she had no way of summoning it now.

"I end my turn."

Lance drew and summoned the monster he just picked up. "I summon Rocket Warrior (1500 ATK)! Now attack Yuko directly!" She doubled over from the monster's slash across her stomach, feeling the wind knocked out of her.

[Yuko: 0 LP, 1 card in hand]  
[Lance: 300 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko looked down, crestfallen, as the Duel Disk powered off. "I lost…"

"Hey, that was a great duel. I hope we get to duel in the future." She looked to see Lance with his hand outstretched.

"That's right. It was really quite close." This time it was Rui talking to her. "Just give it a little more practice and refinement, and you'll do fine."

"He's right." Sammy said, smiling. "I was on the edge of my seat. And if it means anything, you're learning way faster than ol' Yamato here did."

The death glare he was shooting at Samantha was eased by Yuko laughing and smiling. She shook Lance's hand and looked up again. "Thanks. That all means a lot."

Rui then started to walk off, "Well, I have to head back to the shop. It isn't time to close yet."

Yuko panicked. "Wait! I don't know how to get back on my own!"

As she ran after him, Sammy called, "If you ever need more duels, don't be afraid to call me!"

Yuko turned and nodded. "Thanks! I won't be a stranger!"

"Are you coming or not?"

"Whoops! Gotta go now!"

* * *

That night, as the city slept, a train quietly pulled in to the station. It was almost empty, and only a girl stepped out. "So this is Moonvale…? Well, it's late. I'll have time to look around tomorrow."

As she walked out of the shadows provided by the station into the moonlight, the girl was illuminated wearing a t-shirt, and a skirt, though her most noticeable feature was the rainbow of colours that made up her hair.

* * *

 **Yeah, so Ring of destruction kind of sucks now that it's been errata'd. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Also, you may have noticed I used the anime effect for Card of Sanctity. I'll admit, I kind of wrote myself into a corner. But the real card is garbage, so I'm sticking with that effect.**

 **False Card Corner:**

Kuribite

Level 1, Rock/Effect, LIGHT

300 ATK/200 DEF

If a Defense Position monster you control is attacked, during the Damage step, you can discard this card from your hand to the Graveyard. If you do, the monster targeted for an attack gains defense equal to the attacking monster's attack points. All battle damage is halved the turn this card's effect is used.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello ladies and gents! I'm here, once again with another chapter for you all, as promised. Sadly, the comic has stopped, but it's a blessing in disguise, because now I can do whatever the heck I want when it comes to monsters. Of course, I will get those links up eventually, because we do have concept art.**

 **Once again, thank you to Matt and Felix for their help storyboarding this project.**

 **Yugioh and all related properties are owned by Konami. The characters however belong to me and my creative team. Same with the cards we made up. Except one case which I'll bring up in the endnote.**

* * *

Rui was already tinkering with a Duel Disk when Yuko came down to start work. "Morning." She yawned out, still a little sleepy. Rui gave her a lazy wave from where he was sitting. "So what do you need me to do today?" She asked him.

Rui didn't even look at her. "Really, I can't think of much. You've done a pretty good job cleaning the place, and we won't get new parts delivered until tomorrow, so I guess you can man the counter."

Yuko got behind the counter and took a seat, and took this chance to ask a question that had been eating at her for a while. "Where do you get most of your parts anyway? Aren't Duel Disks expensive?"

Rui closed up the one he was tinkering with, before turning it on to make sure it worked. "Shopkeep's out ordering them now. He always gets whatever I need for the repair jobs. That's what most of these Disks are, and it's mostly what I do. Repair fancy gadgets."

"And the others?" Yuko asked.

"Either scrapped ones I find I can make work fine or they're in such bad shape that if I fix 'em, I can keep 'em. The one you use was actually one of the latter. I wasn't even sure I could fix it. Either way, I return them more solid than the company that makes them."

Yuko nodded before Rui brought something up. "So what's your deal? I still don't know much about you, and I haven't really done any digging. Mostly because I don't think you exactly have anything to hide."

Yuko shrugged, "Well, my parents and I don't exactly… get along." She began, figuring out how to phrase her words carefully. "We're newer to town, so one night I decided to sneak out and have a little fun and a night out on the town."

Rui nodded, "And I know the rest. But shouldn't you be in school for something?"

Yuko suddenly adopted a sheepish tone, "Well, the thing about that is… I don't know what to do… That's part of the friction with me and my parents. So I guess I'll work here and see where life takes me until I know what to do."

"Well, at least you're doing something. Next time we get some junk, I'll teach you a little about mechanics. Even if you don't think you'll want to do it, it can't help to learn a thing or two."

"Thanks Rui." Yuko said with a smile. "It's only been a few days, but you've really warmed up to me."

Her comment was met with a laugh. "Aw, that's cute. You think I'm doing this just to be nice. As soon as you learn some of this stuff, you can take some of my workload."

Yuko rolled her eyes. "I figured. So what do I do here?"

Rui got out his next repair job, setting the finished one aside. "If someone comes to pick up a repair, ask for ID so I know who it was. I'll handle the pricing since you don't know how much the parts cost. It all comes to a similar amount though.

The next hour or so passed by quietly with Rui working and Yuko looking through her deck, letting new ideas fill her mind. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the chime on the door ring, and in walked a man who Yuko would guess to be in his mid-20s with black hair. "Good morning. I'm here to pick up a Duel Disk that had a problem with the auto-shuffler and the Life display."

Yuko decided that she needed to act professional. "Can I please see some ID?" The man pulled out his wallet, and showed his driver's license to Yuko. She took it and read the name out loud so Rui could hear in the back. "Clark Gables."

As she handed it back, Rui came forward to return the Duel Disk, and rang up the man's total, which he quickly paid and left. Once the door closed, Yuko gave Rui a look.

"What now?"

"Didn't that cost seem kind of expensive?"

Rui sighed, "We charge a little extra for quality. People don't complain and business stays decently well. I'd charge a hell of a lot more if it wasn't for how sketchy the area is."

The day seemed to pass by pretty quickly after that. Four more people came in, three to pick up repairs and one to drop one off. Yuko got into the habit of making idle chatter with the customers in order to steal if Rui needed to find something, but everything ran pretty smoothly.

In the afternoon, business slowed drastically and when the sun was starting to dip, Rui tapped Yuko on the shoulder, breaking her out of the daydreaming state she was in. "Hey Yuko. It's about time to lock up. Good work today. I'm impressed."

While Rui went about cleaning up inside, Yuko went to lock the door, but just as she was, she saw a girl running toward the shop. She looked to be about her age and had a schoolbag slung over her shoulder. The most noticeable feature was her hair, which was all colours of the rainbow. She burst through the door, very nearly bowling Yuko over. She rested her hand on her knees, panting. "You're…. not closed yet… are you?" She asked in between deep breaths.

Yuko was about to speak when Rui stepped up. "We were just about to, but we can take care of whatever you need."

The girl brightened at this. "I'm here to buy a Duel Disk."

This caught both Yuko and Rui off-guard. Clearly able to see this, she explained, "I'm a student at the local university, and I overheard some classmates talking about this place. They mentioned it's less expensive and the quality's better."

Rui nodded. "Not the first time we've had a college kid in. They usually break their stuff doing stupid things, so I'm not surprised. I'll be back in a second."

While he was gone, Yuko and the girl were left with an awkward silence. "So, what's your name?" Yuko finally asked.

"Aurora. And yours?" She asked in return.

"Yuko. Nice to meetcha'" She said, before her eyes drifted down to her messenger bag. "What're you studying?"

Aurora looked a little embarrassed. "I'm looking into Astronomy. I've always loved stargazing, and I'm hoping to shoot for an internship at the Moonvale Observatory." She looked like she could have gone on forever, but Rui came back with her Duel Disk.

"Here you go. One brand-new Duel Disk." He said, before seeing Aurora looking it over. "Is there anything wrong with it?

She jumped a little bit as she was addressed. "Um, no. Not at all… just do you mind if I duel one of you, just to make sure it works?"

While Rui was hurt by her skepticism, Yuko jumped at the chance. "Of course. I guarantee it'll work just fine, but I understand your concerns. Come on outside."

* * *

Yuko and Aurora stood apart from each other as they activated their Duel Disks. Rui had brought a folding chair and had set it up near Yuko. "You better win and show this chick for insulting my craftsmanship."

Yuko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." To Aurora, she called, "Ready?"

The other girl nodded.

"Duel!"

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Aurora: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

Yuko took the first move. "I'll play first, if you don't mind. I'll summon my Carboneddon in Attack mode (800 ATK)." A grey dinosaur that looked like it was made of graphite stood proudly on her side of the field. "I'll also set one card face-down and end my turn."

Aurora drew her card. "I'll summon my **Polar Archer Lv 3** in Attack mode (700 ATK)!" The monster that appeared was a young girl with long light-blue hair, wearing a leather helmet and a parka, bow and arrow in hand.

Upon seeing the monster, Yuko immediately knelt down to its level. "Oh my god, it's so cute!" She cried. At this, Polar Archer blushed and tried to hide behind her bow while Rui facepalmed.

Aurora was more confused than anything. "Um, can we get back to the duel?" Yuko stood up and got back into her dueling stance so Aurora could continue her turn. "Next, I'll activate my Archer's special ability. Once per turn, she can decrease a target's attack and defense by her level times 100. So I think I'll use that on your monster!"

Polar Archer loosed a volley of arrows that froze Yuko's monster in place as ice formed around where the arrows impacted its feet (800 500 ATK). "Now attack!" Aurora commanded, which destroyed Yuko's monster with a single arrow to the chest. "I'll set one face-down as well, and end my turn."

[Yuko: 3800 LP, 3 cards in hand]

[Aurora: 4000 LP, 4 cards in hand]

Yuko drew her card. "I summon my Ruby Dragon in attack mode (1600 ATK)." A red version of Luster Dragon appeared in front of her. "And then I'll-"

Aurora revealed her set card. "I'll stop you there. I'll activate my Trap card, A Rival Appears! Since you summoned a level 4 monster, I'm allowed to Special Summon one of my own from my hand! So I choose **Solar Guard Lv 4**!" A stream of white hot plasma came out of Aurora's Duel Disk until it cooled and formed a burning lion that crouched (1800 DEF). "And before you try to attack, a Solar Guard can intercept all attacks aimed at a Polar monster."

Yuko rolled her eyes, "I'm not surprised. So I'll just play my Dragon's Gunfire spell card! Since Polar Archer has 800 defense points, I can destroy it!" As Ruby Dragon spat fire, Solar Guard jumped in front of Polar Archer. "What?"

Aurora laughed. "Sorry, but Solar Guard means that targeting effects can't affect a Polar monster either."

Yuko gave her a nod of understanding. "I'll keep that in mind. Normally my spell would just misfire, but Dragon's Gunfire is special. So since I can't use the second effect can't activate, I'll use the first effect!"

"What first eff-AH!" Aurora cried out as Ruby Dragon launched a fireball at her, which she quickly raised her arms to block, losing 800 Life points. "Oh, that effect." She grumbled.

Yuko smiled, "I'll set a card, and let you go."

Aurora drew her card. "Thank you kindly. Now, in my Standby Phase, since my monsters both activated their effects, I can level them up to **Polar Archer Lv 5** and **Solar Guard Lv 6**!" The little girl that was Polar Archer was now in her older teens, taller and had a more defined figure (1500 ATK) and her Solar Guard was much larger with a second head (2400 DEF).

Yuko smiled. "Looks like they grew up! And let me guess, they have more adult effects?"

Aurora nodded, as Polar archer shot an arrow that struck Ruby Dragon, weakening it. "Polar Archer's effect is the same, except now she's Level 5! (1600 1100) And Solar Guard still protects Polar monsters." Polar Archer fired a second arrow slaying the dragon and inflicting more damage to Yuko's life points. "That's all for now."

[Yuko: 3400 LP, 1 card in hand]

[Aurora: 3200 LP, 4 cards in hand]

Yuko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright, just gotta focus. I know my deck can help me." She drew and smiled. "I summon my **Hyozanko** in attack mode!" A small baby dragon with glittering diamond scales appeared on Yuko's field (800 ATK)."

This time, it was Aurora's turn to kneel down. "Oh my god, that's so cute! Can I pet it?"

Rui held his head in his hands. "Of course you can't pet it. It's a projection of a dragon."

Yuko waved off his comment. "Don't mind him. But while he's pretty cute, he won't be around for long. I can tribute him to summon a "Hyozan" monster from my hand to the field. So I'll do that that to summon my **Hyozanmajo**!" The chick was replaced with a witch who had a white cloak, pale skin and blonde hair. She held in her hand a white staff with a glowing diamond on the top. (2500 ATK)"

Aurora looked on in surprise. "Well, I can say I wasn't expecting that."

Yuko smirked. "Well then, you're going to love my next trick. Hyozamajo, attack Solar Guard!" The diamond witch raised her staff and a flurry of diamond shards ripped through Solar Guard, before continuing onto Aurora.

"Once per turn, Solar Guard can prevent its destruction!" Aurora proclaimed, only to see Yuko activate one of her face-downs.

"I use Breakthrough Skill to negate your monster's effect for the turn! Meaning Solar Guard bites the dust! And when Hyozanmajo destroys a monster, you take that monster's level times 100 as effect damage! So that's 600 points! Yuko smiled. "And that's the end of my turn."

Aurora took a deep breath as she drew her next card. "Sadly, Polar Archer takes two turns before it can level up again. But I can work around that with the spell card Level Up! Now come on out, **Polar Archer Lv 7**!" Polar Archer changed again, this time she wasn't a girl, she was a full-grown woman, with hair down to her waist. Her bow looked like a professional longbow (2100 ATK). Aurora smiled. "And with age comes experience. Polar Archer Lv 7's effect is the same, expect she can also freeze a card you set in your back row, and it won't defrost until your End Phase."

Yuko's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"

"Afraid not. Now Polar Archer, do your thing, and freeze her cards!" The monster in question loosed two arrows, one hitting the Diamond Witch in the leg, making her stagger, while the other one hit Yuko's set card, covering it with a sheet of ice (2500 1800 ATK). "Now I've got a few tricks left up my sleeve. I'll activate Level Modulation! You get two cards, and I can summon a Level monster from my graveyard! Come back, Solar Guard Lv 6! And I have a second Level Up! Card in my hand to use!"

She activated it, making Solar Guard becoming much larger, and now it had three heads instead of two. "Say hello to **Solar Guard Lv 8** (1500 ATK)! Now, I'll start with Polar Archer attacking your Hyozanmajo! Arrow Blizzard!"

The archer loosed one arrow that split into a hail that showered and destroyed her witch. "But I'm not done. Solar Guard, Ultraviolet Tri-beam!" Each of the three heads let loose a stream of purple fire that blasted Yuko, sending her reeling. "Oh, are you okay? I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

Yuko dusted herself off and stood up. "Nah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She said, smiling as Aurora ended her turn by setting a card.

[Yuko: 1600 LP, 2 cards in hand]

[Aurora: 2600 LP, 1 card in hand]

Yuko drew her card. "Now I'm going to banish the Carboneddon in my Graveyard to activate its effect." Yuko pulled it out of her Grave and sent it to the banished zone on her Duel Disk. "I'm allowed to summon a Dragon-type Monster, as long as it's a Normal Monster." Yuko only had one monster in mind. "Come on out, Hyozanryu (2800 DEF)! Next, I construct the Overlay Network!" She looked at Rui, "Can I do the thing? Can I? Can I please? Please!?"

He sighed. "Go nuts. I'd say you earned it."

Yuko beamed. "Alright, normally I need two Light Dragons, but I can use a Hyozan monster to act as material.

Heart encased in brilliant crystal

Break free of your gilded cage

Open the gates and let your rage break free

XYZ SUMMON!

With that cry, Fiery Hyozzanryu was summoned, one Overlay Unit orbiting it (2300 2500 ATK). Aurora looked up at the beast, which was about the same size as her Solar Guard. "I'm impressed. You might want to work on you chant though."

Yuko blushed. "Hey! I worked hard on that!"

"More like you came up with it on the spot while tipsy." Rui muttered.

"Silence from the peanut gallery!" She shot back. "Once per turn, I can detach an overlay unit, and destroy a monster with less attack than Fiery Hyozanryu's defense! Now destroy Polar Archer!"

The jet of flame was pulled off-course and hit Solar Guard, with Aurora activating her face-down card. "I reveal Butterspy Protection! I can put a monster in defense mode, and all damage I'd take this turn is cut in half. And Solar Guard can prevent its own destruction once!" The beast took a defensive stance in front of Polar Archer, protecting both her and Aurora (3000 DEF).

Yuko looked over the three cards in her hand. She needed something, and she needed it fast. _Of course! I can do that!"_ She thought, as she put her plan into motion. "I'll activate **Treasure Trove**! "What I need to do is target on Dragon-type monster on my field. I banish one Hyozan monster from my Graveyard, and until my End Phase, the targeted Dragon gains that monster's attack and ability! And I select my Hyozanmajo (2300 4800 ATK)!"

A silhouette of the witch appeared behind Fiery Hyozanryu as Yuko made her move. "I'll also activate the Equip Spell Fairy Meteor Crush! While it doesn't give any extra power, it does let my monster do piercing damage! Now attack Solar Guard!"

The jet of fire from Fiery Hyozanryu destroyed Solar Guard, and kept going through to Aurora, who cried out in pain from the intense heat. As she recovered, Yuko couldn't hide her grin. "I think you're forgetting something. My monster still has Hyozanmajo's ability." Eight crystal shards fired out toward Aurora, knocking her onto the ground. "And that's game!"

Rui shook his head. "Are you sure."

Yuko nodded. "Uh, yeah. I can do math. That was 2600 point of damage."

Aurora climbed back to her feet. "Not quite. You forgot about my Butterspy Protection halving all the damage I take. So you only did 1300 points to me."

Yuko shrugged. "Then I'll set a card and end my turn. That means my monster's attack returns to normal (4800 2300)."

Aurora drew, "Then it's my move. Polar Archer, do your thing. Same card as last time!" She hit Yuko's Dragon and set card with her arrows, weakening the dragon and covering the card in a sheet of ice (2300 1600 ATK). "Now Polar Archer, attack her XYZ Monster! Arrow Blizzard!"

There was a huge cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, Yuko had both of her set cards revealed. "What? But I froze that one! You can't activate it!"

Yuko, was beaming, and even Rui cracked a smile at her cleverness. "I activated Pyro Clock of Destiny, which made it act as if one round had passed, unfreezing my second card, **Shrouded Mirror Force**!"

Aurora blinked, "And what does that do?"

"It forces all your monsters in Attack mode into face-down Defense mode." As Yuko said this, Polar Archer's arrows collided with the barrier, breaking it with the sound of glass, releasing a dark mist. When it cleared, Aurora only had a set monster on her field.

"I end my turn and your monster's attack returns to normal"

[Yuko: 1600 LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Aurora: 1300 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko drew and kept her card in her hand, not seeing a need to play the spell she picked up. "Fiery Hyozanryu, attack her face-down Polar Archer!" Aurora flipped up her monster, but it wasn't enough to survive Yuko's attack (2200 DEF). Yuko ended her turn, putting the ball into Aurora's court.

She looked at the two cards she had. A third Level Up! and Thunder Sea Horse. She needed a miracle. She closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and drew. She looked at the card, and her eyes lit up. It was her only chance. "I activate **Guiding Star**!"

Yuko and Rui both looked confused. "I've never seen that card." The boy said, and Aurora was happy to enlighten them.

"How this works is I excavate the top three cards of my deck. If any of them are a Polar or Solar monster, I can summon it, ignoring its summoning conditions! But if none of them are, then I take 1000 points of damage and send all three cards to the Graveyard." The three cards flew out of Aurora's deck and started to orbit around a large star that appeared in the center of the field. Aurora cleared her throat and called out in a powerful shout, "Revel the first card!" It flipped over and was revealed to be a Fiendish Chain.

"Reveal the second card!" The card turned over and showed it was a Level Modulation.

Aurora was sweating bullets and her voice wavered. "Reveal the third card!" Aurora closed her eyes, she couldn't look.

She only opened her eyes when she felt pain from Guiding Star failing. She looked up, and the third card was Salvage. She wanted to scream. All three cards up there were cards she could have used to turn the game around. She sent them to her Graveyard as she made the only move she could make.

"I discard Thunder Sea Horse to activate its effect! I can add two LIGHT Thunder-type monsters from my deck to my hand, as long as they have less than 1600 Attack points." She took out a Solar Guard Lv 4 and Lv 6, showed Yuko, and added them to her hand. "Since I used Thunder Sea Horse's effect, I'm not allowed to special summon this turn."

She set her monster, which Yuko knew was her Solar Guard, and ended her turn.

[Yuko: 1600 LP, 1 card in hand]

[Aurora: 200 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko drew and made her move. "Even those your Solar Guard won't be destroyed, battle damage still applies. Fiery Hyozanryu, attack and win the Duel!" One jet of fire went right through her Solar Guard and knocked her flat on her back.

[Yuko: 1600 LP, 2 cards in hand]

[Aurora: 0 LP, 2 cards in hand]

* * *

Yuko and Rui walked over to the downed Aurora. Yuko helped her up and once she was on her feet, Rui looked at her hand. "If it wasn't for that Thunder Sea Horse's effect, you could have levelled up your Solar Guard and stalled Yuko until you had the advantage."

Aurora hung her head. "Well, your Duel Disk does work. I guess I need to pay for it." As the trio walked back into the shop, Yuko turned to Aurora. "You know, you can hang out here when you're not at class or doing homework."

She blinked, "Really?"

Rui nodded as he rang up her total. "You can even do homework here. We have internet access, and we're not usually that loud. You seem pretty cool. Who knows, having a uni student spending her time here will help the shop's reputation a little."

"Oh, right. And it has nothing to do with the fact that she's pretty cool."

"I was getting to that! But my business comes first!"

"It's all a numbers game to you, isn't it?"

"You'd know what it's if you actually worked for once!"

Their confrontation was cut off by Aurora, who had a hand over her mouth, trying to cover up her giggles. "I think I will come by. I can tell it'll be a lot of fun, and someone needs to keep you two from killing each other, right?"

Rui just turned away and started to clean up while Yuko walked Aurora to the door. "Well, have a good evening Aurora. See you tomorrow~" She said waving as the girl ran off to get home before it was fully dark.

* * *

 **And there you have it, the third of our little group, Aurora. I like her a lot and she helps the group dymanic a lot I've found. And so I've expanded on the Gem Dragons for Yuko. For those of you who don't know, "Hyozanryu" translates in Japanese to "Diamond Dragon." So "Hyozanmajo" is "Diamond Witch." And Yuko will make the Gem Dragons into a proper archtype.**

 **We also get to see Aurora's cards. The Polar/Solar mix. Level cards like hers haven't been a thing since GX when Chazz used them, but they're still viable, if slow to start.**

 **Anyway, that I mentioned in the top is Shrouded Mirror Force. For those of you who are familiar with the OCG card list, you'd know that very recently, a card was released called Burying Mirror Force with almost the exact same effect. Though ours was in conception since July, so we did it first!**

* * *

 **False Card Corner:**

Polar Archer Lv 3

Level 3, Warrior/Effect WATER

700 ATK/800 DEF

Once per turn, target one face-up monster. Decrease that monster's Attack and Defense points by this card's Level x100. During your Standby Phase, if this card has activated its ability, you can tribute it to summon a "Polar Archer Lv 5" from your hand or deck.

Polar Archer Lv 5

Leve 5, Warrior/Effect WATER

1500 ATK/1600 DEF

Once per turn, target up to two face-up monsters on the field. Decrease the selected monsters' Attack and Defense points by this card's level x100. If this card has activated its ability, you can tribute it in the second Standby Phase after summoning it to summon a "Polar Archer Lv 7" from the hand or deck.

Polar Archer Lv 7

Level 7, Warrior/Effect WATER

2100 ATK/2200 DEF

Once per turn, target one face-up Monster and/or one Spell/Trap card. The targeted monster loses Attack and defense points equal to this card's level x100. The targeted Spell/Trap has its effects negated until the opponent's End Phase.

Solar Guard Lv 4

Level 4, Thunder/Effect LIGHT

800 ATK/1800 DEF

Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. If a "Polar" monster is on the field, it cannot be targeted for attacks or card effects. During your Standby Phase, you can tribute this card to summon a "Solar Guard Lv 6" from your hand or deck.

Solar Guard Lv 6

Level 6 Thunder/Effect LIGHT

1200 ATK/2400 DEF

Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. If a "Polar" monster is on the field, it cannot be targeted for attacks or card effects. If a "Polar" monster would be destroyed, you can tribute this monster to negate the destruction. During your second Standby Phase after summoning this card, you can tribute it to summon a "Solar Guard Lv 8" from your hand or deck.

Solar Guard Lv 8

Level 8 Thunder/Effect LIGHT

1500 ATK/3000 DEF

Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. If a "Polar" monster is on the field, it cannot be targeted for attacks or card effects. If a "Polar" monster would be destroyed, you can negate the effect and destroy the card.

Guiding Star

Spell

Excavate the top three cards of your deck. If any "Polar" or "Solar" monsters are revealed, Special Summon them (ignoring their summoning conditions) and shuffle the remaining cards back into the deck. If none of the cards revealed are "Polar" or "Solar" monsters, take 1000 points of damage and send all revealed cards to the Graveyard.

Hyozanko

Level 3 Dragon/Effect LIGHT

800 ATK/1200 DEF

Send this face-up card you control to the Graveyard. Special Summon one "Hyozan" card from your hand.

Hyozanmajo

Level 7 Spellcaster/Effect LIGHT

2500 ATK/2200 DEF

When this card destroys a monster, inflict damage to the opponent equal to the destroyed monster's level x100.

Treasure Trove

Spell

Target one Dragon-type monster on your side of the field and one "Hyozan" monster in your Graveyard. Banish the "Hyozan" monster. The selected Dragon monster gains the banished monster's Attack, Defense, and Effect until the End Phase of that turn

Shrouded Mirror Force

Trap

When an opponent's monster declares an attack, negate the attack, and change all your opponent's Attack Position monsters to face-down Defense position. Cards cannot be activated in response to this effect.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry about this being super late! November totally burned me out with essays, and December was the holiday season. Needless to say, between those, the awesomeness that is Stella Glow, and the addicting application of my tactical mind that is Empire: Total War, I've been a bit busy. Also, God Bless Crow Hogan for his new Assault Blackwings in Yugioh Arc-V. As a Blackwing duelist, I use of them of course! I'm sorry again, but I'm going to try and keep one a month!**

 **Once again, I want to thank Felix and Matt for their help with this!**

* * *

One week had passed since Yuko's duel with Aurora. Since then, the three had settled into a routine. Rui and Yuko would work the store, and when Aurora wasn't at class she would come in. She would either spend time pecking away at her keyboard, or sometimes covered for Yuko when she was on break. And of course, Yuko and Rui would argue over something, even if it was the most trivial things. Like they were doing at the current moment.

"For the last time Yuko, cream soda does not have any milk in it!"

"Oh really? Then why would they call it cream soda!?"

"Because it was a catchy name, and it looks like cream!"

Aurora cleared her throat, the timid girl catching the other two's attention. "So, again, what do you two want me to get for lunch?"

Yuko instantly perked up, ignoring the argument. "Still a burger and a cream soda for me. No pickles. And I'm sure the grump wants the same as before."

Rui nodded. "You know hamburgers aren't made of ham, right? And yes please Aurora."

Yuko rolled her eyes. "Of course I know. I'm not a child."

"Could've fooled me," Rui said, making Aurora giggle and Yuko give him a death glare.

Aurora, reading the mood, realized he best idea was to get out of there quickly. "Alright, I'll be back soon!" She said, running out.

After Aurora left, there was an air of silence in the room before Rui broke the silence. "You know, you work here. You should be our errand girl."

Yuko gave a coy smile. "Please. Why should I go? My charming personality lights up the place!"

Rui gave her a deadpan look. "Wanna try that again?"

"Nope!" She said, "I'm going to stick with that." The shop fell back into silence before Yuko asked, "So, can you show me a little about mechanics?"

Rui shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" He led her to the back room, where he kept his workbench. "Alright, the first part of finding out what's wrong with a machine is cracking it open without causing any damage. Hand we that wedge." As Yuko handed him the wooden block, he locked a duel disk into a vice. "Now they have a very thin seam, connecting the top to the bottom. You can't fully detach them, but you do need to open it." He lined up the wedge and started hammering at it, until the casing started to break apart. He undid the vice and laid the two halves connected by a plethora of wires out on the workbench. "Now the fun begins."

Before they could talk any more, the door opened. "Oi! I'm looking for a Yamato!" Rui and Yuko walked out to see a young man, about their age, with spiky white hair and a long beige coat. He smiled when he saw him, "There you are! And who's this cutie?" He asked, looking at Yuko. "I'm impressed. Finally got yourself a girlfriend?"

Rui smiled. "I'm glad to see you too. And this is my employee, Yuko. Business relationship only."

He smiled. "So, you're a free agent?"

Yuko took the conversation in stride. "I'm not looking right now. Rui, who the hell is this?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Rui?"

The black-haired boy sighed, "I didn't want to tell her my name. It had to be on the paperwork for her to rent the spare room. Anyway, Yuko, this is Balder. Like the eagle. No, I'm not telling you his real name. I met him way back when Sammy helped me set up prize duels." He turned back to Balder, "So, what brings you back to town? I thought you left to try and head to the pro circuit."

He sighed, "Well, turns out it takes a hell of a lot more than just skill. I couldn't find an agent who I got along well with."

Rui chuckled. "That's not surprising. You never even got along with Sammy when we were her clients."

Yuko sat down behind the counter, resting her chin on her arms. "Alright, I have to hear this. What happened?"

"Well, when she took us on as full-time clients, she demanded forty percent of our winnings. Balder here though that was too much and refused to give her anything."

Yuko looked up, "And then?"

Rui laughed while Balder winced. "She beat it out of him."

"She has a mean right hook. I swear, I can still feel it now."

Yuko sucked in air through her teeth. "Geez. Note to self: never go back on a deal with Sammy."

It was about this time Aurora came back, carrying a bag of food. "Hey Rui, they didn't have mustard for your sandwich so I got may- Oh, hello!" She said, extending her hand, "I'm Aurora."

He shook it, "Balder. How does she know your name?" He asked, the question directed at Rui.

He just shook his head looking down. "Yuko can't keep other people's secrets to save her life."

"One slip of the tongue!" The blonde shot back. "And you never let me forget it!"

He simply ignored her, as Aurora set down the food, getting out everyone's orders. Balder looked her over. "Another employee? You must be raking it in if you have someone to get food for you."

"Nope. Even if we could afford someone like that, I wouldn't hire someone for such a simple job." He said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Balder grinned. "So she's your girlfriend?" This caused Rui to start choking and Aurora's red to turn a cherry red.

"N-N-Not at all!" Aurora stammered out, as Yuko helped Rui recover. "We're just friends!"

Yuko nodded, "She just hangs out with us a whole bunch!"

He waved away their concerns. "Relax. I'm just teasing. I figured Rui didn't have enough game to take a lady as lovely as you." The comment and the wink he sent her did nothing to help her blush.

Rui had finally recovered enough to talk clearly. "So, are you here for any reason other than to catch up? Maybe to pawn that new gold bracelet?" When Yuko looked back, she saw that he was indeed wearing a golden band on his left wrist.

"Nah. It's fake anyway. Just looks gold. And I came by to see if you still had free space to crash in. but I can see the answer to that. I should leave since you're still open. When you're done for the day though, gimme a call. We should spend some time while I'm in town." And with that, he left.

"He seems… nice." Yuko said after a little bit.

Rui had a small smile on his face. "Please. Don't mince words. He's still a womanizing jackass, like how he was when I met him."

"Really? He was always like that?"

Rui nodded. "Yeah. We were best friends until he moved away almost a year ago. We kind of fell out of contact, but it seems like he hasn't changed much."

Yuko and Aurora exchanged a look. "If you say so." The former replied. "So, can we get back to our mechanics lesson?"

Rui stood up, finishing his lunch and wiping his hands. Sure thing. Aurora, why not come as well?"

She smiled and took a seat, while opening up her laptop. "I'll pass. I have a little research to do for class."

"Suit yourself." He said, leading Yuko back to the opened Duel Disk. "So, the problem with this one is that the system's entirely dead. I've tried giving it a kick start, but nothing. So now I need to find out where the circuit short is."

Yuko instantly stopped him. "The crystal's a bust."

"Eh?" He asked her.

"They crystal that works as a battery. It's a low-grade cut, and has run out of power." She said, pulling it out of the mechanism. "Normally they're brighter and less jagged than this." By this point, Rui was string at her. "What?"

"How on earth did you know any of that? I'm an amateur appraiser, it comes with the territory, but I couldn't tell that was the problem at all!"

Yuko shrugged. "Really? It was as clear as day to me." She held up the crystal, while was a dull white. "If it's carrying any charge, it's a lot brighter, like a lightbulb."

Rui shook his head as disbelief. "And yet you don't know what you want to do, and you have the skills of a seasoned gemologist. Someday, you're going to tell me what your deal is."

As he went rummaging through a box of parts, looking for a good crystal, Yuko repeated. "I told you, someday I will.'

Rui was about to say something, but was cut off by his phone going off. He picked it up, seeing a text. "It's Sammy. She heard Balder's in town, so she wanted us three to get together tonight to hang out."

Yuko smiled. "Aww, that'll be nice. You guys do have a lot of catching up to do."

Rui nodded, quickly punching in a reply to Sammy. "Do you have any issues locking up?"

"Nope. And if I need it, I have Aurora to help me! Besides, I've seen you do it dozens of times! Trust me."

He shook his head as he ushered her back to the front counter. "Famous last words."

[Page break]

Rui stood around as he checked his phone. They were both running late. Sammy was always running late, because when you're working as a manager for duelists, your work hours always vary. Balder was likely still getting a feel for the city. A lot can change in a year.

The first to arrive was Sammy. She was clearly out of breath from running. "Sorry I'm late!" She gasped out, "Last time…. I work with… a stall duelist. If I have to see another Swift Scarecrow, I swear I'm going to lose it."

"Good to see you two Sammy." He said, as she wiped her brow and straightened her hair to make it look like she wasn't just running. "So, do you know where he is?"

Sammy nodded, "Yep. He'll be here soon. But you were here earlier than I expected. Are you really comfortable leaving Yuko alone at the shop?"

Rui shrugged. "I made her swear not to try and do anything besides run the front desk, take commissions, and close up. She can handle that."

She nodded, "You don't need a person to do that."

"Hey, she cleaned the place up, and keeps it clean, so I need her to do something." He spied a head of white hair coming toward them. "Oh, and here he is."

Sammy turned around and waved to Balder. "Hey there!" She called, before looking him over. "No bruises. I'm surprised."

He chuckled at that, "Well, when people try to strong-arm you, they don't mean that literally."

She smirked. "Hey, when you deal under the table sometimes, you have to be able to back it up. I'm not afraid to bust a few heads."

"Your deck's no slouch either." Rui added. "I'm surprised you didn't make a gambit at going pro."

She waved off his comment with a smile. "Nah. I'm doing fine doing what I do. Besides, while I'm good, I'm not that good." Her eyes drifted to Balder, "In fact, if your deck really up to scratch?"

He turned to her, looking hurt, "Of course it is! I don't lose. I almost never lost when you managed me. That's why you sucker-punched me way back then."

"Will you please let that go!?" She cried, before noticing something. "Hey, that's a nice bangle. Where'd you get it?"

Balder looked at the bangle on his wrist. "Oh, this? It's supposed to grant wishes or some junk like that. It was free, so I figured why not. I could have hawked it, but it's not worth a whole lot."

Sammy raised an eyebrow, "So still no one sponsoring you?"

Balder nodded, "Actually, my last few duels were kind of a blur. That's part of why I came back. You both know my style almost as well as I do."

"So you want us to duel you?" Rui asked.

"One of you. I have no doubt that I could handle both of you, but I need someone to observe who isn't caught up in the rush."

Sammy immediately stepped back. "Have fun Rui."

He shrugged, "Alright, then let's get it started."

* * *

Sammy sat on a bench near the middle on where they were going at it. "Alright, I'll keep track of how you're dueling and let you know if something seems off."

"Let's duel!"

[Rui: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hands]  
[Balder: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll go first!" Balder called. "I'll start by summoning Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame! (1800 ATK)" He then played a second cards, "Since I have a Blackwing on the field, I can special summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear to the field. (1700 ATK)" Both birds burst out to stand in front of Balder. "And that's all I'll do to start."

Rui he looked over his hand. "Alright, I'll start by playing the continuous spell Black Whirlwind! Now, when I Normal Summon a Blackwing, I can add one with less attack from my deck to my hand. Next I'll summon **BB Magician's Wing!** (1600 ATK)" A humanoid bird appeared, differing from the others since while the wing-bones and body matched the other Blackwings, though the wing feathers were all bright red. "Next, I'll activate Ostrich Catherine's effect, and special summon her! (1300 ATK). And I'll activate the spell Allure of Darkness. I draw two cards, and then banish a DARK monster from my hand. If I can't draw one, I discard my entire hand." He drew the two cards and banished one. "Since I control two Blackwings, when I drew this card, I can special summon my **BB Dodo Wiseman**! (1500 ATK)."

Balder chuckled. "Looks like you got a few new tricks. Let me guess, he has an effect?"

Rui nodded. "As long as my Wiseman is face-up on the field, you can't activate Spells from your hand. I'll set a card face-down and end my turn. Oh, and during the End Phase, Magician's Wing deals 200 points of direct damage for each Blackwing monster on the field." The monster in question started firing off feathers which ignited on their way toward Balder.

[Rui: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand]  
[Balder: 3000 LP, 3 cards in hand]

Balder growled, as his eyes flashed. "I special summon Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind (1300 ATK), and now I'm going to tune him with Shura the Blue Flame!" As soon as Gale was summoned, he turned into three green circles while Shura became four stars that went into the centers of the circles. "I Synchro Summon Blackwing Armour Master! (2500 ATK)"

Rui let his trap card rise. "I activate my trap, Icarus Attack! I tribute a Winged Beast to destroy two cards. I offer my Catherine to destroy your two monsters!" Catherine seemed to vanish into the card, where two jets of flame shot out to incinerate his two monsters.

"My turn's not over, and I haven't used my Normal Summon yet!" Balder said, "I summon Blizzard the Far North! (1200 ATK) And I'll use its effect to revive my Shura in Defense mode! Now, once more, Synchro Summon!" The same thing happened, except the level two Blizzard turned into two circles. "I summon Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight! (2400 ATK)."

The new monster was a well-muscled birdman wearing gold wristbands and a belt, a sword held in his hand. Sammy chuckled. "Well, at least you're flexible."

Balder ignored her and went into his monster's effects. "When Nothung is special summoned, you take 800 points of damage and one of your monsters loses 800 Attack and Defense. So I'll cut Magician Wing's attack! (1600 - 800 ATK)" He then looked over the two monsters, "Though since your bird is crippled, I'll free up my Spell cards by destroying your Wiseman!"

Rui covered his face as the force of the attack sent a shockwave out as his life went down. Balder set one card face down and ended his turn. "Don't forget," Rui mentioned, "Magician Wing's effect happens during every End Phase. Meaning you get pelted for another 400 points of damage!"

Rui drew and looked over his options. He only had a monster at half strength, and had very little to go off of. Plus, he had Balder's face-down card to worry about. It could be a bluff, but it might not be. It could be his own Icarus attack, or something else just as dangerous. They were almost equal in life points, but he had to take field advantage to win this duel. And with his Wiseman destroyed, next turn Balder would be able to fire some nasty spells at him.

"I play the spell Dark Eruption! This lets me take a monster with 1500 Attack or less and re-add it to my hand." He picked the monster he wanted, and looked over the three cards he had left. He switched Magician's Wing to Defense mode and set two face-down cards. "I end my turn, meaning Magician's Wing deals 400 points of extra damage!"

[Rui: 2500 LP, 1 card in hand]  
[Balder: 2200 LP, 1 card in hand]

The flaming feathers continued to pepper Balder and he became even angrier, growling, though his growling was almost like that of a beast. Sammy cleared her throat and got up to try and stop the duel. "Alright, I think I can see a problem." She said.

"Sit back down, bitch!" Balder snarled, shocking them both.

Sammy recovered first and game him a flat look. "Okay, rude. I'm going to knock some sense into him." She pulled out her own deck before Rui put his arm out to stop her. "Don't bother. I can handle him."

Sammy tried to push past him. "I'll pound some sense into him!"

Rui rolled his eyes. "You'll take a 2000 life interference penalty, and since it's already his turn, you'll be taken out in seconds."

Balder, still acting somewhat feral let out a laugh. "Listen to him. I do need someone to duel after I finish destroying this one."

Rui sighed. "Fine. Let's see what you've got."

Balder drew. "I summon Blackwing – Orishi the Squall! (400 ATK) And thanks to Nothung's effect, your Magician has zero defense points! Now Oroshi, attack!" Rui grimaced as his monster was destroyed. "Now Nothung, go for the direct attack!" The slash knocked Rui flat, as he cried out in pain from the attack. "Now, to finish you off, I'll activate my face-down card, Urgent Tuning! Now I'll tune the Level 6 Nothung the Starlight and the Level 1 Oroshi the Squall to Synchro Summon Assault Blackwing – Chidori the Light Rain! And he gains 300 attack for every Blackwing in my Graveyard (2600 - 4400 ATK). Now finish him off for me!"

Rui was protected from Chidori's slash by a barrier as he raised his trap. "I activate Defense Draw! Not only does it reduce any battle damage to 0, I also get to draw a card from my deck!" Balder snarled but ended his turn as Rui drew to begin his turn. He smirked, having everything he needed in his hand to turn this match around.

"I'll start by summoning the Dodo Wiseman I added back to my hand. But he's not sticking around, since I activate Tribute Doll. I tribute him to Special Summon one Level 7 Monster from my hand. And I'll summon my Blackwing Brawler Chief (2300 ATK)."

Balder laughed. "That's your ace monster!? Oh please. Come at me. Disappoint me to death why don't you?"

Rui rolled his eyes. "Let me finish. I activate Call of the Haunted to revive Magician's Wing!"

"The second you lose, I'm going to shred that nuisance and shove it down your throat!"

Rui had a glint in his eye. "Don't worry, he won't be around for long."

 _Gathering storm of black feathers_

 _Bestow your golden presence upon the leader_

 _Let all fall before his Requiem!_

Contact Fusion Summon!

The two monsters combined and formed a golden figure of slender build and average height. It had a hounded head, and pitch-black wings along its arms. "Say hello to Blackwing Brawler Gang Star! (3100 ATK)"

Sammy stared in shock. "W-When did you learn to Contact Fuse?"

Rui grinned. "You didn't think I didn't have a new trick or two? Just like he has his Assault Blackwing, I added a new monster or two to my deck. And wait until you see his ability." He pointed at Balder's Assault Blackwing. "Attack!"

Balder crossed his arms. "So what? Chidori has more than enough Attack Points, and you have only 100 Life Points left."

Rui sighed, "Good grief. Gang Star's ability negates your ability, and halves your attack points!" Gang Star grabbed the weakened Chidori's sword in its hand and snapped it, before punching the monster into oblivion.

"When Chidori is destroyed, I can summon a Blackwing Synchro Monster from my Graveyard! Come back, Blackwing Armour Master!" At just 400 Life Points, Balder was acting more like a rabid animal than a normal person."

Sammy blinked. "Um, Nothung would have ended this duel instantly. It's like he looked at the attack values and nothing else."

Rui grinned. "Now for my monster's other ability. By paying half my life points, I can banish a Blackwing in my Graveyard and I gain its effect until the end of my turn."

"You don't mean…" Balder snarled.

"I do." Rui said, wincing from the red aura surrounding him before revealing Magician's Wing. "I end my turn." Gang Star's flaming wings made him cry out as he was knocked back, the duel now lost."

[Rui: 50 LP, 0 cards in hand]  
[Balder: 0 LP, 1 card in hand]

Rui and Sammy walked over to the unconscious Balder. "Is he alright?" She asked.

Rui knelt down to check his pulse and breathing. "He seems to be okay. Either way, call an ambulance. I'd rather have him wake up in hospital than not at all."

She nodded, and quickly dialed on her cell while Rui looked at his fallen friend. "Damn man, what made you change? Hm?" He noticed the golden bangle was gone, before seeing something shiny in the grass not too far away. "I guess that must be it. That last attack must've knocked it loose?" He decided to stick with his gut and not touch it. After all, the police were going to sweep the area anyway.

* * *

Aurora unrolled a sleeping bag on the floor as Yuko finished getting ready for bed. "Thanks again for letting me stay over."

"Oh. It's no problem. Besides, it'll be nice having a sleepover." She walked back into the bedroom seeing aurora looking out the window. "Looking at the stars?"

She had a concerned look on her face. "I was, but… do police cruisers usually come around here? Yuko?"

Yuko was already down the stairs and out of earshot by the time Aurora finished her question.

She burst out the front door as she saw Rui step out of the car. "What did you do?" She asked him, "I'm sorry Officer. How much will he have to post for bail?"

Rui glared at her. "I'm not arrested. There was an unfortunate accident, and after taking the statements of Sammy and me, they offered to give us a lift home, in case anything else happened. Also, that door opened rather quickly. Didn't I ask you to lock up?"

"Urk!" She let her shoulders sag. "I was going to get to it."

Rui turned back to the officer, and shook his hand. "Thanks for the lift."

He tipped his cap. "You're welcome. Hopefully, we don't have to see each other again."

When he drove off, he saw Yuko's curious look. "Again?"

As he ushered her back into the shop he explained, "I told you I've had a few run-ins with the cops. He's one of the ones we're more familiar with."

"How familiar?"

"Can I explain later? It's been a long day, and I'm tired."

"Also try not to step on Aurora. She's got a sleeping bag up there somewhere."

Rui let out a long sigh. He felt like he needed a stiff drink and entertained the idea of asking Yuko where she had come from a few weeks ago, but quickly dismissed the notion. By tomorrow, Balder would wake up, and then he could put his questions to rest.

* * *

 **False Card Corner:**

BB Magician's Wing

Level 4, Pyro/Effect, DARK

1600 ATK/800 DEF

During each player's End Phase, your opponent takes 200 Points of damage for each "Blackwing" monster face-up on the field.

BB Dodo Wiseman

Level 4, Winged-Beast/Effect, DARK

1500 ATK/600 DEF

While this card is face-up on the field, your opponent cannot activate Spell Cards from their hand.

Blackwing Brawler Gang Star

Level 9, Winged-Beast/Fusion/Effect, DARK

3100 ATK/1500 DEF

"Blackwing Brawler Chief" + One "Blackwing" monster You can summon this monster by sending the above cards you control from the field to the Graveyard (You do not use Polymerization). Once per turn, target one opponent's monster and negate its effect until the End Phase. When this card declares n attack, the monster being attacked has its attack cut in half. Once per turn, you can banish one Blackwing card from your Hand or Graveyard and pay half your Life Points. If you do, this card gains that monster's effect until the End Phase. At the end of the End Phase, this card goes to the extra deck and its materials are special summoned from the graveyard


	5. Chapter 5

**So so sorry about this! I've been really busy with endless assignments and then exams. Then Fire Emblem Fates. Basically, a lot of things stole my time. I've also got two new stories brewing, but I'll try to keep this regular! Please R &R! Constructive criticism is always appreciated. **

**Once gain, I'm so so so sorry!**

* * *

After the incident with Balder, life settled back into the normal routine for Rui and Yuko. Aurora came by most days of the week, and Yuko's mechanics lessons were going slowly, but she was slowly but surely getting better. Yuko still wasn't at the skill level to take any jobs though, meaning she spent her time cleaning the store, running errands, and running the front desk. This meant answering any phone calls like now.

"Hello? ...Yes, this is the right place… Hold on." She covered the receiver with her hand. "Oi! Rui! Phone for you!"

The person in question was busy soldering frayed and worn wires together. "Who is it?"

"That clinic you and Sammy sent Balder to." This got Rui to set down his tools and take the phone.

"Yeah, I'm here… Oh, I see… Uh-huh… Well, if there's nothing wrong with him, then go ahead… Alright, thanks. Bye."

Aurora looked up from her laptop. "What was that about?"

"The hospital ran a bunch of tests, but they can't find anything wrong with Balder. And to save money, they're moving him to the charity ward."

"So why'd they call?" She asked.

"They just wanted to make sure it was alright. If something serious develops, I'll pay for them to look at it. But since he appears fine, he's just taking up space."

After that, there was a silence only punctuated by Aurora pecking at her keyboard and Rui's tools until Aurora broached a new topic of discussion. "I know Rui promised not to probe into your life, and I wouldn't know where to look, but how old are you?" She asked.

Yuko looked over at her. "I'm actually turning nineteen tomorrow. So I think you're the youngest one of us."

"Am I?" she wondered. "I did turn eighteen recently. How old is Rui?"

"Let me check. Hey Rui!"

"What do you want now!?" Was the answering call from the backroom.

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen. Why?"

"Chatting with Aurora. Also, tomorrow's my birthday."

"Neat." Was all he gave as an answer.

Yuko turned back to Aurora. "Yeah, you're the kid among the group."

Aurora giggled at that. "And I'm also the most educated."

Rui came back from his workbench, a repaired Duel Disk in hand. "Hey, screw you. I've got a successful business to run. 'Sides, just because I didn't go to school doesn't mean I'm not educated. It's not like I can't read."

Aurora raised her hands defensively. "I didn't mean it like you were dumb. I'd believe you went to a trade school, considering your craftsmanship. Compared to other mechanics and repairmen in the city, I've heard you're one of the best. You could take on an apprentice if you felt inclined." As Yuko opened her mouth to speak, Aurora cut her off. "You don't count. I meant someone who actually wants to study mechanics."

Rui shrugged. "I could, but I'm a bit rough around the edges. I don't deal with kids, especially if they don't have any kind of professionalism. Like Yuko."

"Hey!" She shot back, from where she was sitting. She had taken off her shoes and had her sock-clad feet on the counter.

Aurora laughed at the display. "And despite her lack of professionalism, Yuko has solid instincts and a good eye for detail. But she's just spending her days around here."

Rui added to Aurora's assessment. "As much as I hate to admit it, she is talented. She's a quick study and has a good appraisal eye. If she knew the value of a dollar, she could be a deadly businesswoman."

Yuko huffed. "You two keep talking like I'm not here."

"Only compliments," Aurora said, which placated the dirty blonde, "Besides, aren't you at least a little excited? Your birthday is tomorrow after all."

Yuko shrugged, "Not really. I mean, I'm another year older. You get cake and some gifts. Not a lot changes."

Aurora looked on in shock. "You mean, you haven't had a birthday party?" Seeing the looks of confusion both Yuko and Rui gave her, her shock became horror. "You mean, neither of you have had a birthday party?"

"Is it really that common?" Yuko asked.

"Well, we aren't exactly normal. You're a runaway and I'm from the street. Aurora's cut from a very different cloth." Rui said sagely.

"Well, yeah," The rainbow-coloured girl replied, "It's the rule, not the exception." Determination flashed in her eyes as she smiled, "Tomorrow, you're having your first birthday party!"

Rui shrugged. "Sure. Tomorrow I've got to get the part list out and a few people are coming in to pick up orders, but we can close for the afternoon."

Yuko looked over to him, "So, what're you getting me for a gift?"

"Isn't half a day enough? Someone's getting greedy." He joked. "I'll think of something."

Aurora gave a little smile a she began pecking away at her keyboard. "It's not the first party I've thrown. I've got it. I'll even make dinner."

"Oh, I'll help!" Yuko cried, before Rui jumped in.

"No you won't. We don't need the fire department coming by again."

"What were you making?" Aurora asked.

Yuko looked down, "Grilled cheese…"

Rui chuckled at the memory, "At least it went better than the noodle incident."

"One time!"

"And I'll never let you forget it until I die."

Aurora opened her mouth to ask, but closed it, deciding that there was a limit to how far morbid curiosity went.

* * *

The next day went by as normal, with the exception was Aurora was there early with plenty of groceries. When questioned, she simply replied, "Party supplies." And threw both Rui and Yuko out of the kitchen in order to work.

Around lunchtime, a truck stopped outside and the driver got out, getting some boxes out of the truck. "Alright Yuko, looks like out delivery's here. I need you to carry the boxes while I sign for the order."

As she followed him outside, she commented, "You know, this isn't that I expected."

"Where else would I get the parts?" He asked, kicking a doorstop into place.

"The trash?"

"Oh, like your cards."

They glared at each other, sparks flying until the delivery boy spoke up, "Um, will either of you sign for the boxes?"

Rui grabbed the clipboard and signed without breaking eye contact with Yuko. Sensing the hostility, he quickly drove off. Though Rui eventually turned away. "Carry the boxes in. Once you're done, we can close up.

Yuko did her task, just dumping the boxes in the middle of the floor. After all, she only had to carry them inside. She headed up to her room to quickly clean up before heading to the kitchen. As she came down the stairs, she saw Aurora wearing a party hat and she and Rui had a cake with "Happy Birthday Yuko" hastily scrawled on it in blue icing to match the streak in her hair.

"Happy birthday!" Aurora said pulling the blonde into a hug, as Rui started lighting up the candles.

"Hurry up and blow out the candles."

"Oh, but you have to make a wish first," Aurora instructed, clearly the one most experienced with birthday party etiquette. "And then you need to cut the cake."

Yuko silently made her wish, blew out her candles, and the started to cut three pieces of the small cake they had.

"So, what did you wish for?" Rui asked.

Yuko was about to answer, but was cut off by Aurora. "Don't say it! If you do, it won't come true!"

Yuko gave a sly grin. "Well, the Lore Master has spoken. My hands are tied."

Aurora went back into the kitchen, coming back with snacks and drinks. Though something seemed off…

"Hey, Aurora," Yuko started, "Not to be rude, but what is that weird-looking orange stuff?"

"Oh this?" She asked, holding the pitcher. "It's a special blend of orange lemonade. It's not easy to make, but it's absolutely worth it. Try it you two." She insisted pouring two classes.

Rui and You looked at each other, tapping their glasses together. "Cheers." Neither trusted it, but under Aurora's expectant gaze, they had to at least try it.

"This is… actually really good!" Rui said, once he drained his glass.

Yuko had to agree. "I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Well drink up!" The rainbow-haired girl said happily. "I knew you'd love it, so there's more in the fridge."

The three dug into their feast of cake and salty snacks, washing it all down with Aurora's orange lemonade. After a little bit, Yuko started to get a bit unsteady. "So… where're my *hic* my gifts? It's a birthday, right?"

Aurora picked up a gift bag. "Here you go." Yuko unwrapped it, and she found a stuffed round owl with two leaves positioned to look like a bow tie. It fit in her hand. "I' love it!" Yuko cried, nuzzling the plush against her face.

Rui put his on the table. "It's not that cute, but I hope it'll suffice." He said, as Yuko attacked the wrapping paper like an animal. Inside was a camera, and it looked quite new too.

"Rui... How'd a birdbrain like you get this?" She asked, before hiccuping.

"I called in a favour for a discount. You'd be surprised who you meet in this business. Let me show you how it works." Rui set it up with the timer, so the three of them got a group shot.

The part went on for another hour, until it was clearly something was clearly wrong with Yuko.

"Aurora…"

"I swear to God I have no idea what's wrong with her!"

Yuko, was on the ground, cuddling the Rowlet plushie Aurora had given her and was muttering gibberish.

"Then explain that mess!"

"I don't know! We drank as much as her!"

The two sat down and thought.

"Say," Aurora mentioned, "Has she ever acted like this before?"

Rui leaned down toward her. "Yuko, open our mouth."

"Oooookay~" She drawled, letting Rui getting a whiff of her breath.

"It doesn't smell like alcohol. This is kind of like the first night she came over." He sat back down across from Aurora. "She came over really kind of tipsy. I found it kind of odd because she looked young."

"Kids with money can usually pay the cover to get into bars." Aurora said flatly.

"You know that how?" Rui asked her.

"I heard it from a friend!" She quickly shouted, her hands in front of her to defend herself.

Rui sighed. "I figured you'd be pretty clean. I'm just screwing with ya. Anyway, she was tipsy, but when she went to sleep, she didn't have the scent of alcohol on their breath. And before you ask," He cut off Aurora, "I know what it smells like because you meet a lot of people when you're from where I'm from. Some who drink more than they should." His face changed into a sly grin. "Now give me that recipe."

Aurora recoiled, a shocked expression on her face. "I am not giving you my orange lemonade recipe so you can take advantage of Yuko!|

Rui flinched. "Excuse me? I'm no gentleman, but I'm nowhere near that low."

"Then why do you want it?" She asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"Because this is hilarious!" He said, pointing to Yuko still rolling and cuddling her small plush owl.

Aurora gave him a teasing smile. "I think every card in your Extra Deck is a fair trade." To her surprise, Rui slid a small pile of cards toward her. She began to look them over. "Hey, these are just leftover cards!"

"Like I'd give you my real cards." He said simply. "But when you open packs, I keep all the leftovers. You never know who'll want them."

Yuko spoke up then, leaning heavily on the table as she shakily climbed to her feet. "Hey guys… You know how I beat both of you?"

"Through luck." Rui said.

"Extremely lucky." Aurora agreed.

"Well, I still don't know which one of you is my rival! You two need to fight and see who will be the one who pushes me to my absolute limit!"

Rui rolled his eyes. "Yuko, you're a fast learner, but that's all you are. You don't need a rival."

Aurora smiled at the idea however. "While she may not be making the most sense, it'll be fun. Let's give her a birthday treat."

Rui sighed. "Sure. Why not? But if I win, you teach me to make the lemonade."

Aurora nodded. "And I'll think of my own victory prize."

* * *

They two had brought a chair for Yuko since she was still not all there, as they took their positions across from each other. "Duel!"

[Aurora: 4000 LP, 5 cards]  
[Rui: 4000 LP, 5 cards]

"Ladies first." Aurora said, "Which means I can't draw, but I have what I need already. I'll start by summoning Solar Guard Lv 4 in Attack position, but he won't be around for long. I discard a card from my hand to summon **Polar Shaman** (300 ATK)!"

"A Tuner monster!?" Rui asked in surprise.

"Of course. My deck is able to manipulate levels, so it's natural for me. Now, I tune my Solar Guard with my Polar Shaman! Level 5, Synchro Summon!" The lion turned into a collection of four stars while the shaman turned into one green Synchro Gate. "I summon Armades, Keeper of Boundaries (2300 ATK).| A blue humanoid with a white cloth wrapped around its waist. In one hand, it held a ball of fire, and in the other, a ball of ice.

"I can now activate Polar Shaman's effect! Since it was used as part of a Synchro Summon, I can take a Polar Monster and place it on top of my deck!" Aurora revealed her Polar Archer Lv 3 and shuffled her deck before putting it on top. "I'll lay one card face-down and end my turn."

Rui drew to start his turn. "Geez, if you're playing big from the start, I have to as well. I'll summon BB King Pen to start, allowing me to add a "Blackwing" card from my deck to my hand. Next, I play Polymerization!"

"What? You have Fusion cards!?" Aurora cried out in shock.

"I fuse my King Pen and the Tommygun Emu in my hand to Fusion Summon **BB Peacock Bouncer** in Defense mode (2500 DEF)." A muscular figure with black feathers appeared before dropping into a guarding stance and opening his tail to partially obscure Rui from Aurora's line of sight.

"Woohoo!" Yuko cried out from her seat. "My rivals use different types of summoning from me! This is so fun!"

"It's about to get more fun. I can deal damage to your life points equal to half of one monster's attack as effect damage, as long as I don't conduct a Battle Phase! Peacock is the only monster I control, so I'll choose him with an attack of 1200!"

Aurora braced herself as razor-sharp feathers were fired at her, making her wince. "I'll place two cards face-down to end my turn."

[Aurora: 3400 LP, 1 card]  
Rui: 4000 LP, 2 cards]

"I'm fine." Aurora said to herself. "I'll draw Polar Archer this turn since Shaman let her become the top card on my deck. Then I can use her effect to weaken his monster to the point where Armades can destroy it. I can turn this around right away. I draw!"

"Activate trap!" Rui declared. "My set card was the trap Drop Off!" Aurora's eyes widened in shock. "That Polar Archer you just drew now has to go to the graveyard!"

Aurora dropped the card into her graveyard slot and grit her teeth. "I can't do anything. I need to pass this round." Aurora still had her face-down card, but she needed to save it, and it wouldn't help in her current situation anyway. And the spell she was holding wasn't much use.

Rui drew. "I play the spell Allure of Darkness! This lets me draw two new cards, as long as I banish a Dark attribute monster from my hand. If I can't, then I have to dump my whole hand." He drew, and looked at his cards. "I drew Magician's Wing, so I'm safe." He said as he dropped it into the Banished slot on his Duel Disk. "Next I activate the spell Cost Down. By discarding a card from my hand, I can reduce the levels of all monsters in my hand by 2. Now I summon **BB Kiwi Commander**!" (2100 ATK) The Blackwing Brawler was quite well-built, though it was small, resembling the bird it was based off of.

"Now time for Peacock's effect, but this time, I select Kiwi Commander!" Aurora cried out as the extra damage hit her hard, sending her skidding back a few meters. "And like that, I end my turn."

[Aurora: 2350 LP, 1 card]  
[Rui: 4000 LP, 0 cards]

Aurora drew and took a steadying breath. She had an opening, and was prepared to pounce on it. "Armades, attack Kiwi Commander!"

"Nice try, but when he battles, he gains 200 points for every Blackwing in my graveyard!" Rui said, but did a double-take when he saw Aurora's smirk.

"I play my monster effect! When I declare an attack, no other card effects can activate until after the Damage Step!"

"What? Ah!" Rui raised his arm to shield himself as her Synchro monster destroyed his monster.

"I think that'll end my turn for now." She said.

Rui drew, scanning the field. The both had one set card from the first turn, and as long as Aurora attacked with Armades, he couldn't play his. "I activate Peacock Bouncer's monster effect!" After throwing another six hundred points of effect damage at her, he activated the only card in his hand. "I activate One Day of Peace! We each draw, and neither of us can take damage until the end phase of your turn." They each drew and with that, Rui ended.

[Aurora: 1750 LP, 2 cards]  
Rui: 3800 LP, 1 card]

Aurora grinned as she drew. "Now I have everything I need."

Yuko blinked. "Rainbow-hair's making a comeback?"

Aurora grimaced. "First, please don't call me that. Second of all, how can I come back when I never left? I summon my Blizzard Dragon (1800 ATK) but he won't be here for long. I reveal my trap card, Level Soul!"

"What? You had that set!?"

Aurora brushed back a lock of hair. "Of course. I was preparing to use it right away, but you forcing me to discard Polar Archer slowed that down. I tribute my Blizzard Dragon and banish Polar Archer lv 5 from my Graveyard to summon Polar Archer Lv 7 from my deck!"

"Wait, when did you discard Polar Archer Lv 5?"

"Think back to the first turn. The card I discarded for Polar Shaman?"

"!" Rui was left speechless at her plan and how she had pulled it all together so well.

"Come forth, Polar Archer Lv 7!" She called, placing the monster on her Duel Disk (2200 DEF). "I can't deal any damage this turn, so I might as well not risk her needlessly. Now to use her effect! The woman nodded as she nocked and loosed two arrows, one hitting Peacock Bouncer and the other freezing his set card (2500 – 1800 DEF). "Armades, wipe out his monster!"

Rui wasn't totally surprised as his monster was destroyed. He knew what her deck was capable of, and was impressed how quickly she turned this match around. His face-down was now nulled, and would be next turn. As she ended and he drew, he knew he needed something big. He took a deep breath and looked at his cards.

"I play the spell card Fusion Recovery! I can add a Fusion material and Polymerization from my Graveyard to my hand. Then I'll summon BB King Pen to add another Blackwing card to my hand." He looked at the three cards he had. He had summoned his monster in defense mode, so he had to bluff big. "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn.

[Aurora: 1750 LP, 2 cards]  
[Rui: 3800 LP, 1 card]

Aurora looked at his field. One of those cards was more than likely Polymerization, but she could only freeze one. "I switch Polar Archer into Attack mode, and freeze the same card as last turn!" She took a deep breath, before entering her Battle Phase. "Polar Archer, attack his Penguin!"

As the monster was destroyed, Rui let out a laugh. "Activate trap, Black Thunder! You take 400 points of damage for each card you control!" Aurora yelped as two bolts of lightning hit her.

"It's still my turn, so Armades, attack directly!" He threw his fire, then his ice at Rui, who cried out as his life points dropped.

"And with that, I end my turn."

Rui didn't have enough life points to take another direct hit from Armades. He looked at what he had. He had two cards in his hand. "I set a monster and one more card. End turn."

[Aurora: 950 LP, 3 cards]  
[Rui: 1500 LP, 0 cards]

Aurora drew. "I activate the spell Twin Twister! I discard a card and then destroy two face-down cards!" She pointed to the two cards, and she destroyed Polymerization and Black Sonic. There was one card from before and one he had just set down. "Now Polar Archer, freeze that hard that was from before! Now Armades, attack and destroy his monster!" Her Synchro Monster destroyed Rui's face-down monster effortlessly. "Now Polar Archer, attack directly!"

Rui grinned. "Reveal trap! Blazing Mirror Force!"

"What?"

"I couldn't use this when Armades was in combat, but Polar Archer is fair game. First, your attack damage is cut in half!" He cried out as the fire blasted him. "Then you take the same amount of damage!"

"Wait, but half of her attack is 1050 damage…"

"And you only have 950 Life Points!"

Aurora cried out as the fire encompassed her and made her drop to her knees.

[Aurora: 0 LP, 2 cards]  
[Rui, 450 LP, 0 cards]

Aurora dusted herself and stood up. "So Yuko, what'd you think? Yuko?"

Rui walked over to her. "Fast asleep. She must've lost interest at some point. Great duel though. I wasn't expecting you to have a Tuner."

Aurora smirked. "I also wasn't expecting you to fight with effect damage. Different from every other Blackwing deck I've seen."

Rui gave Yuko a gentle kick. "So, wanna carry her inside?"

Aurora picked her up, grunting with the effort. "Geez, either I spend too much time behind a desk, or Yuko's heavier than she looks."

Rui shrugged. "I bet it's the second. Tuck her in, I'll clean up from the party."

Aurora shrugged. "Alright. by the way, you won. So you can have the lemonade recipe." She shifted the sleeping Yuko. "But use this power wisely." She cautioned. "I'm not responsible for this one."

* * *

 **Fake Card Corner:**

BB Peacock Bouncer:

Level 7, Winged-Beast/Fusion/Effect, DARK

1200 ATK/2500 DEF

2 "Blackwing" Monsters

Once per turn, you can target one Monster on your side of the field. Inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to half the targeted monster's Attack Points. The turn you use this effect, you cannot conduct your Battle Phase.

BB Kiwi Commander

Level 6, Winged-Beast/Effect DARK

2100 ATK/1200 DEF

When this card attacks or is attacked, it gains 200 Attack for each "Blackwing" monster in your Graveyard

Polar Shaman

Level 1, Spellcaster/Tuner, WATER

300 ATK/500 DEF

You can discard one card from this hand to Special Summon this monster from your hand. If this card is sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, you can select one "Polar" or "Solar" card on top of your deck.


End file.
